The Whare Manaaki Program

A Traditional Way of Living

The Whare Manaaki framework was developed to support our Rotorua homeless community with high and complex needs. Grounded in Te Ao Māori, it reimagined our traditional ways of living to create a safe, healing environment.

At Four Canoes, Mānaha were invited into a space of discovery, reconnection, and belonging, where trauma and disconnection were met with aroha, tikanga, and collective support.

Whare Manaaki prepares Mānaha for a journey of self-discovery, relationship building, and reconnection to wairua, whānau, and community.

The central focus was Mauri or Connection.

Mauri

Connection

Trauma often leads to disconnection. Addiction and distress can be seen as symptoms of this separation from self, whānau, and community. At Whare Manaaki, healing starts with restoring connection across three dimensions

Ko Wai Au

Connection to Self

Awakening hinengaro, wairua, and tinana. When wairua pours into hinengaro, it flows into tinana and out to whānau, creating balance and dignity.

(Ta Wiremu and Lesley Niania)

Whakapapa

Connection to Whānau, Hapū, Iwi

Pūrākau and whakapapa guided participants to see their place in the world, strengthening identity and belonging.

Tino Rangatiratanga

Connection to Community

Building healthy relationships, resilience, and pathways to knowledge, enabling Mānaha to participate confidently in community life.

Wānanga Tikanga and Kawa

A core element of Whare Manaaki was the setting of values and principles through wānanga and hui takitoru. Held in our whare, Manaakitanga, these wānanga reconnected participants to tikanga, kawa, and the essence of a whare as a central pou of Te Ao Māori.

Each Navigator supported 5–10 Mānaha, guiding them to:

Identify tikanga (values and principles)

Establish kawa (rules for the collective)

Explore roles and responsibilities

Understand the Mauri Role within the roopū

Through this process, Mānaha were encouraged to uphold their values with those of Whare Manaaki and Te Taumata o Ngāti Whakaue.

Roles and Responsibilities

Four Canoes was a home-away-from-home, and each person responsible for maintaining its mauri.

This collective care ensured that healing could take place in safety this contributed to

Strengths of the roopū

Individual contributions

Practical tools to maintain daily life

Shared kai as a practice of manaakitanga

Natural consequences for breaching tikanga or kawa

Supportive Engagement – Manaakitanga

Whare Manaaki used supportive engagement to encourage self-awareness and reflection. Each participant received a Mokopuna Reflection Pukapuka, a journal for recording their journey.

Mokopuna Pukapuka

Moko – facial markings, identity carried from our tūpuna

Puna – a spring of water, symbolising reflection

Each of us is a mokopuna of our tūpuna. When we look into a puna, we see our reflection and the traits of those before us. Through writing and reflection, Mānaha could see themselves through the eyes of their ancestors, strengthening connection and identity.

Vision

Whare Manaaki was more than a programme it was a return to traditional ways of being, where healing flowed through connection, tikanga, and whanaungatanga. It provided a place to stand, a place to belong, and a pathway for transformation.