Lay summary
At the end of 2020 seven Raukawa women walked 380km retracing the journey of their ancestor Māhinaarangi. They walked from Kahotea in the Hastings region through Waikaremoana, Whakatane, Tauranga and the Waikato finally arriving 23 days later at Rangiatea, the ancestral home of their tupuna Raukawa. This walk was an act of remembrance and a way to connect with the strength, resilience and healing power of their land and ancestors. But it was also a sovereign act, reclaiming the rituals, relationships and rites of passage that have transformed the wellbeing of these wāhine and their whānau. This project seeks to share the wellness journey of these seven wāhine embedded in the land and the pathways of their ancestors. In doing so, we hope to capture and share widely, through whare kōrero, documentary and small publications, how land and ancestral journeys are critical to health and wellbeing for wāhine and whānau.