USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center
Abstract
Rongoā Māori (RM), traditional Māori healing, encompasses Māori values, customs and healing practices that have existed in Aotearoa/New Zealand for more than a thousand years. Increasing global interest in commercialization of Indigenous knowledge, has resulted in misuse, misrepresentation, and misunderstanding of this Indigenous knowledge. Amalgamation of RM practices under the umbrella of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) for ease of classification and categorization displaces RM from its place as a culturally appropriate healing treatment for Māori. This community-based commentary premises the right of Indigenous peoples to maintain the cultural integrity of their healing practices, separate from CAM, and that recognises Indigenous healing practices as integral to a culturally appropriate way of life
