Knowledge carried forward.
Māori health begins with people, whakapapa and the knowledge held within our whānau and communities. Dr Maia Hetaraka’s research invites us to value Indigenous knowledge holders and the many ways Māori understand the world. Dr Pita Shelford’s research brings forward kaumātua experiences of resilience, connection and supporting one another through change.
Tā Mason Durie’s Te Whare Tapa Whā helps us understand wellbeing through taha tinana, taha hinengaro, taha wairua and taha whānau, with connection to whenua. The Meihana Model, developed by Suzanne Pitama and colleagues, offers a wider clinical understanding of health, whānau and the circumstances that shape a journey.
These bodies of work come from different fields: education, health and clinical care. Together they inspire our own commitment to a mana-enhancing space where Māori knowledge is valued, people can recognise their strengths, and whānau choose what matters to them.
Mana in every story.
Our people carry knowledge, strength and possibility in many forms: on the marae, in the garden, at work, in sport, in learning and in the quiet work of caring for one another.
Here you can find stories to be proud of, practical support when life is hard, and room to decide what wellbeing means for you and your whānau. We recognise barriers and inequities without letting them tell the whole story.
We are inspired by Māori knowledge holders and by Dr Maia Hetaraka’s Te kauae tuku iho | Inheriting the sacred jawbone. Her work focuses on education; bringing that inspiration into this wellbeing space is our own interpretation.
Knowledge that guides us.
Dr Pita Shelford’s research into hauora tāne Māori and the wellbeing of kaumātua helps inform the kaupapa of this space. His work invites us to see the strengths, knowledge and resilience our people carry, and the value of relationships in navigating change.
In his 2025 University of Waikato doctoral thesis, Mai i te kore, ki te pō, ki te ao mārama: He kohinga pūrākau hauora o ngā kaumātua Māori, he explores kaumātua wellbeing through pūrākau and tuakana–teina conversations. His earlier scholarship also identifies hauora tāne Māori as an area of research interest. Read about that work.
We acknowledge this research with respect. Its inclusion does not imply Dr Shelford or the people involved endorse Māori.health.
Beyond the horizon.
My personal commitment is to uplift our people and help steer our waka beyond the horizon — towards a future where whānau can see their strengths, celebrate their stories and find support that honours who they are.
We carry the knowledge of those who came before us and make space for the journeys of those who follow. There is room in this waka for every generation, and for each of us to find our own way forward.
Strong roots. Open horizons.
“The whenua is our foundation, the moana is our horizon, and together they build the mauri we have and are as Māori.”
Our four wellbeing sections are based on Te Whare Tapa Whā, the Māori health model developed by Sir Mason Durie. The four walls describe physical, mental and emotional, spiritual, and whānau wellbeing. Connection to whenua is fundamental.
maori.health adds a path and garden as a welcoming entry, the ocean as a horizon of possibility, and mauri as the life and connection felt across the experience. This is our website interpretation, not a replacement for Durie’s model. The way we express these layers will be reviewed with kaumātua and fluent speakers.
Ministry of Health — Te Whare Tapa WhāIt started with one person and a simple question.
This place began with one person who was tired of hearing only one story about Māori.
Every day the headlines spoke of gaps, failures and statistics that left whānau feeling like a problem to be solved. But that wasn't the whole picture they saw around them. They saw whānau starting businesses, kōrero in te reo at the kitchen table, kaumātua holding communities together, and people quietly turning their health around.
They kept asking: where is that story told? And where does someone go when they're struggling, when the diagnosis is new, or the worry won't settle, and they need hope before they need advice?
maori.health is their answer. A place that starts with a garden, not a waiting room. A place built on the whenua and looking out to the moana. A place where our strengths are counted and shared, and where anyone, Māori or not, can see a fuller, truer story of who we are.
It isn't about one person. It's about all of us, and every step towards wellbeing, however small, is part of changing the story for Māori and for Aotearoa.
Partners and disclosures.
maori.health is editorially independent. The founder has business interests in the food and health sector, including a low-carbohydrate food business, and works with clinicians whose research is cited on this site. These interests are not a condition of using this site, and health content is not a product endorsement. Specific partnerships, sponsorships and conflicts will be disclosed beside the relevant content.
Explore the scholarship.
These works are part of the wider conversation that informs our kaupapa. Follow the links to read the authors’ research in its original context.
- Dr Maia Hetaraka — Te Kauae Tuku Iho: Inheriting the Sacred Jawbone, doctoral thesis, University of Auckland (2020).
- Dr Maia Hetaraka — Te kauae tuku iho | Inheriting the sacred jawbone, NZCER Press (2024).
- Dr Pita Shelford — Mai i te kore, ki te pō, ki te ao mārama: He kohinga pūrākau hauora o ngā kaumātua Māori, doctoral thesis, University of Waikato (2025).
- Tā Mason Durie — “A Māori perspective of health” (1985), an early scholarly account of the four dimensions of wellbeing that inform Te Whare Tapa Whā.
- Suzanne Pitama and colleagues — “Meihana Model: A Clinical Assessment Framework” (2007).
- Suzanne Pitama, Tania Huria and Cameron Lacey — “Improving Māori health through clinical assessment: Waikare o te Waka o Meihana” (2014).
Te Whare Tapa Whā organises the wellbeing pathways here. The Meihana Model is a clinical assessment framework; it is acknowledged as related scholarship, not presented here as a clinical service. Referencing a work does not imply the authors endorse this site.