Local Hauora Heroes: ORO ATUA

Jerome Kavanagh & Ruiha Turner – Oro Atua Wānanga Rongoā Puoro

Jerome Kavanagh Poutama (Ngāti Maniapoto - Matakore, Mōkai Pātea, Kahungunu, Ngāti Rangi - Awa Whanganui, Tūwharetoa, Caomhanach) is a Grammy award-winning Taonga Puoro Māori practitioner, composer and artist. Ruiha Turner (Ngāti Pāhauwera, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa) is a full-time Taonga Puoro Practitioner and Performing Artist. Together, Jerome (Puoro Jerome) & Ruiha are spearheading the revival of Taonga Puoro as rongoā - into kura, marae and community throughout Takitimu rohe, Aotearoa and abroad with Oro Atua: Wānanga Rongoā Puoro. They also specialise in revitalising the tīpuna practice of utilising Taonga Puoro during hapūtanga. The duo work in balance as Taha Wāhine & Taha Tāne. Currently Jerome & Ruiha are delivering ORO ATUA throughout Aotearoa and are gathering research into the healing effects of Taonga Pūoro. This will be the largest body of research for Taonga Puoro as Rongoā to date. Jerome & Ruiha share five tamariki, bringing their three youngest along for the hauora kaupapa.

Oro Atua is such an incredible kaupapa, combining ancient wisdom with whānau, hapū and the taiao. Can you tell us a bit about how you got involved in taonga puoro and how this led you to establish & develop ORO ATUA Wānanga Rongoā Puoro?

Through the teachings of his whānau and hapū, he was first introduced to Taonga Puoro by his Kuia who showed him a Pupurangi as a young child. As a 14-year-old his Aunty showed him a Kōauau which he naturally learnt to play. He developed his own unique playing style by walking his whenua close to the Ruahine Ranges, spending time listening and mimicking native bird calls with his voice.

After relocating from his rural tribal area to the city as a youth, Jerome battled with depression and several suicide attempts. To aid him in his recovery Jerome’s whānau guided him back home again to nature. It was here that he began his healing journey through the power of Taonga Puoro.

Over the past 21-years Jerome has become a full-time, independent Taonga Puoro practitioner and has come to be one of the most prolific providers of Puoro in Aotearoa, and the world. Jerome’s consistency and innovation in weaving Taonga Puoro back into the fabric of society is a continuation of the pathway forged by the late Dr. Hirini Melbourne.

Jerome developed and brought innovation to the world of Taonga Puoro as the creator of the ORO ATUA. This utilises and revives the Rongoā Māori ancestral practice of sound therapy in response to generational trauma for our people in modern times. He has shared the ORO ATUA extensively around Aotearoa in marae, wānanga, schools, universities and for team building & hauora events.

What is ORO ATUA about? Can you explain the kaupapa for our whānau who may be curious about what to expect when attending an ORO ATUA wānanga?

ORO ATUA spearheads the revival of our Tupuna practice of utilising Taonga Puoro first and foremost as Rongoā Māori. ORO is the sound vibration and ATUA refers to our Atua Māori that sing through each Puoro, we combine modern sound technology to create an orchestra of nature to help reconnect people to the natural world. Each Taonga Puoro holds the resonance and vibration of the different parts of our taiao opening the door to oneself and ultimately creates time and space for reflection, self-healing and for guidance to become clear, in this fast-paced, time-poor, modern world which we live in.

We utilise pūrākau, ruruku/karakia and waiata relating to each Taonga Puoro and varying Atua Māori. Together these taonga tuku iho unlock solutions to the challenges people face and are rongoā to empower whanau to lead their own healing.

It has been wonderful to follow your journey, delivering ORO ATUA throughout Takitimu. Can you please tell us about your mahi in collaboration Te Aka Whai Ora & Te Whatu Ora in our rohe?

In 2023 we were selected to deliver mātauranga Māori, focusing on our kaupapa, reviving Taonga Puoro as rongoā Māori for our whānau as a solution to healing the generational trauma we all face through colonisation.

We went back to Ruiha’s marae in Mohaka to share a wānanga there and then also to Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga, along with sharing wānanga at Moawhango and Opaea Marae near Taihape which is some of the inland boundaries of Takitimu waka.

Our wānanga consist of 3 parts; firstly, sharing Purākau around our Atua specifically those associated with Taonga Puoro, secondly through our ORO ATUA session which we hold in the whare Tīpuna and journey through as a whānau, hapu collective. The last part is to get our whānau making their own Taonga Puoro so they are able to utilise them as rongoā Māori at home for themselves and for their whānau in everyday life.

In Heretaunga we created 12 Pukaea together with whānau which will be passed onto future generations to use at the marae and for kaupapa, like Matariki. At our other marae we created Porotiti & Ukutangi for whānau to take home. Whaea Huria and Papa Rongopai Kira were really the ones that opened the door for us to get back to Mohaka and to Heretaunga - their mahi, vision and the beautiful way they weave whānau back to their marae is incredible and is a rongoā in itself.

What is your favourite thing about your mahi? What keeps you going?

Ruiha: I am deeply humbled by and grateful to be able to share our taonga tuku iho alongside my hoa rangatira, with our little whanau in tow. It’s truly amazing to see individuals experience a weight lifted from their shoulders. Our wānanga also offer a safe space for our people to reconnect with their culture without feeling whakamā - they simply lie down, relax and allow the sound to guide them, tapping into their own rangatiratanga. What motivates me is the profound transformations we observe in those we work with and the knowledge that we are contributing to the well-being of our wider whānau.

Jerome: My favorite thing about our mahi is that we get to dedicate ourselves fully to kaupapa Māori as a whānau and we don't have to get up and go work for someone else or a Pākehā kaupapa. We have full belief in our tīpuna and their guidance and when we roll like this, they take care of us too. I appreciate that they have given us the ORO ATUA to spearhead the revival of Taonga Puoro as Rongoā Māori for our people. Our tamariki and whānau come with us and are 100 percent a part of our mahi and kaupapa. Taonga Puoro is a normal part of their day-to-day life and I love that they get to grow up like that. I love that we get to spend so much time with our tamariki and whānau at so many of our marae we whakapapa to, alongside our whanaunga, sharing together in this revival and practice.

It definitely hasn't been an easy pathway and has taken many years and heaps of learning to trust and believe in our tīpuna, but in turn has shown us how to trust and believe in ourselves.

What does Hauora mean to you?

Ruiha: For me, Haoura is the connection to the past, present and future. It invites us to honor our tīpuna, and the wisdom they imparted through our ancestral healing practices. In the present, it reminds us that in the stillness, we have the space to be with our own sovereignty. Looking forward, it helps us reflect on how I can be a good tipuna. Hauora reminds me of the importance of a balanced, integrated approach to health and healing.

Jerome: Hauora for me is a reminder that the winds and air provide so much life for us all. Hauora is a constant practice of balance. It's noticing when things are out of balance and then putting into action the rebalance. Hauora is about what feels right and moving with that feeling.

What does tino rangatiratanga mean to you in relation to health and wellbeing?

Ruiha: To me, tino rangatiratanga embodies the essence of self-determination and it is the power to reclaim our healing practices.

Jerome: Rangatiratanga for me is the practice of making choices that are based on what feels right for us as whānau Māori in any given situation. Rangatiratanga is reclaiming what is right for us all day and every day that we can.

What is your favourite whakataukī relating to health and wellness and why?

“Puoro Atu Puoro Mai” is a very simple powerful one that means when we play our Puoro that what we are putting out in terms of intention and vibration is what we will hear back or what will be returned. This can be applied to the kupu we choose to say, how we are talking or what actions we are putting out there in the world. This kōrero reminds us to be careful and for our intentions to be full of care.

by tiheitakitimu