Bennett scholarship graduates thank benefactors

The first graduates to complete their studies in psychiatry with help from a Henry Rongomai Bennett Memorial Scholarship have returned to Te Arawa to show their thanks.

Hinemoa Elder and Cameron Lacey took part in a ceremony during the Pacific Region Indigenous Doctors' Congress in Rotorua to acknowlege the pioneering role of the late Dr Bennett in the mental health field.

Scholarship committee chairperson Mason Durie says in 2002 the pair were among the first five recipients of the scholarship, which is designed to encourage leadership in Maori mental health.

Professor Durie says the health Ministry-funded scholarship has been a boost not just for psychiatrists but for people studying clinical psychology, mental health nursing and alcohol and drug addiction.

“It's helped people who were wondering about a career in mental health but for one reason or another looked at how long that would take and all the difficulties that would come, including the financial commitments that have to be made,” Professor Durie says.

Dr Elder, who gave up her television career to study medicine, is a consultant psychiatrist for Counties Manukau Health, while Dr Lacey has a research fellowship at the University of Melbourne studying epilepsy.

LOW GRADE FOR KURA OUTPUT FAIR REFLECTION

A south Auckland kura kaupapa principal says an Education Ministry study which finds Maori immersion students score high on Maori language subjects but low on reading, writing and maths is fair.

The Maori Medium Student Outcome Overview says the earlier students start at kura kaupapa, the better their achievement is likely to be. It says boys do less well than girls.

George Masina from Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Otara says lack of basic literacy skills is affecting progress.

“We're find that Maori tamariki struggle to read at all. If they don’t have to read, they won't,” Mr Masina says.

He says while some basic skills are lacking, kura kaupapa students are often able to complete tertiary papers in Maori language while still at school.

MAORI WORDS CREEPING ONTO NZ VERNACULAR

A lecturer in Maori studies and linguistics at Victoria University says increased use of Maori words is changing New Zealand English.

John McAlistair says on average, New Zealanders now understand almost twice as many Maori words as previous research indicated.

He says this is a much greater use of indigenous words than has been observed in other English speaking countries, and it's helping create a distinct New Zealand English.

“In New Zealand we have this richness tht’s coming into our English , thanks to te reo Maori, because people are using words related to human interaction, to relationships, to concepts, to feelings, words like aroha, for example, and I think we probably are unique,” Mr McAlistair says.

He says the widespread use of Maori words by Maori and no Maori alike should give heart to those worried about the future of te reo Maori.

FOCUS ON HEALTH, RESILIENCE RATHER THAN PATHOLOGY

Leading Maori academic Mason Durie says people should start looking at what makes Maori healthy, rather than what makes them sick.

Professor Durie, the head of Maori research and development at Massey University, spoke on Maori resilience at the Pacific Region Indigenous Doctor's Conference in Rotorua.

He says there are positive developments starting to emerge in Maori health, such as a gain in life expectancy so the gap between Maori and non-Maori is starting to close up.

Professor Durie says he wanted to show how focusing on disparity can mean people overlook human potential.

“It was really an attempt to shift some of the debate away from understanding health by understanding illness, and instead to try to understand health by looking at success and why some people have overcome all sorts of adversity to become very healthy,” Professor Durie says.

He says Maori health status has been helped by the increase in the Maori health workforce, with about 3 percent of registered health professionals now being Maori, compared with 0.5 percent 20 years ago.


NATS TAKE MAORI SERIOUSLY, SAYS MULTI PARTY TAU

One of the National Party's new spokespeople on Maori affairs says the concerns of Maori will be an important part of his party's future policy direction.

Tau Henare says he was picked to share the role with Georgine te Heuheu because new leader John Key is seeing how effectively the Maori Party's co-leadership model is working.

Mr Henare says having two spokespeople is an indication how important the portfolio is.

“What John is trying to do is actually say to the people hey,. Maori are quite relevant to where the nation goes, and where the nation goes, Maori have to be there somewhere,” Mr Henare says

He says the selection of lawyer Chris Finlayson as the party's treaty negotiations spokesperson shows National's commitment.

ASSOCIATION PROMOTING STUDY OF MAORI, PACIFIC HISTORY

The Pacific History Association wants more people to learn something about Maori and Pacific history.

The Association has just finished its annual conference in Dunedin on the theme of Te Maoana nui a Kiwa, as the Pacific Ocean is known to Maori.

Association secretary Jackie Leckie says the region is not as extensively studied as other parts of the world, and the conference was a good chance for those in the field to network.

She says the association intends to work with not just universities but polytechnics, wananga and community groups to encourage the study of Maori and Pacific history.

“We're concerned that here still seem to be this idea that history should be about studying the Tudors or the kings and queens of England where in fact we have a rich history in our own part of the world,” Ms Leckie says.

She says Maori and other Pacific peoples face many common issues over questions of land, foreshore and seabed, identity, migration and ecology.