Ora: Healing ourselves – Indigenous knowledge, healing and wellbeing

Ora: Healing ourselves – Indigenous knowledge, healing and wellbeing – Edited by Leonie Pihama & Linda Tuhiwai Smith

This collection brings together indigenous thinkers and practitioners from Aotearoa and internationally to discuss the effects of trauma on indigenous peoples across social, economic, political and cultural environments.

The authors explore understandings and practices of indigenous people, grounded in the knowledge of ancestors and based on research, that facilitate healing and wellbeing. The first part of the book focuses on research findings from He Oranga Ngākau: Māori Approaches to Trauma Informed Care, which supports health providers working with whānau experiencing trauma. It discusses tikanga Māori concepts, decolonising approaches and navigating mauri ora.

The subsequent chapters explore indigenous models of healing, focusing on connections to land and the environment, whakapapa connections and indigenous approaches such as walking, hunting, and growing and accessing traditional foods for wellbeing.