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ABSTRACT:
The title of this paper acknowledges the coming together of different groups of people; Raranga Wairua meaning weaving two groups together - the indigenous people and the visitors. As health workers, we are visitors in people's lives. But this paper is also about the weaving together of the skills and knowledge of those health workers to help achieve the best outcomes for our clients. It has been adapted from a presentation given at the Linking Cultures Conference, field in November 2013 at Te Koki, New Zealand School of Music, Wellington.
KEYWORDS:
Music therapy, collaboration, intercultural practice, child mental health, adolescent mental health, Maori haoura, well being.
Introduction
The focus of this paper is collaboration. It demonstrates how our Infant Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (ICAMHS)'s culture of collaborative working - both within the team and in the community - facilitates engagement with clients and employs te whare tapa whä2 and tikanga3 best practice. It begins by outlining Mäori models of hauora4, followed by an introduction to kapa haka5 and the Täwhirimätea or wind voices of taonga püoro (singing treasures),6 then presents small case studies of three different collaborations: a weaving group at ICAMHS; kapa haka in schools; and work with a private music therapy client who is also a client at ICAMHS.
In writing this paper, I acknowledge how much I have learned. The paper is not about a music therapist - I am the story-teller weaving the threads together. As our Kaumätua7 said to me, "You carry the wairua8 as you've been given the information from those who carry it". But although it is not the music therapist's story, it has become part of my journey and the writing of it has influenced my thinking and approach to the work.
As part of that journey, I visited Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand with a music therapy friend and colleague. Besides visiting the Taonga Puoro collection, one of us bought a postcard from the shop and we discovered this written on the paper bag:
Weaving is storytelling with your hands. Stories you can put things inside. Stories you can wear. Techniques and practical benefits are only half the story. The weaver also draws together the customs, traditions, legends,...