Nau mai
The Ako room is built upon the Māori concept of ako - teaching and learning as reciprocal, embodied relationships.
The Ako room is creative resistance against colonial assimilation models of education, spirituality and wellness.
By centering ako, we reclaim the fundamental Indigenous principle that knowledge flows in all directions, that teaching and learning are interconnected, and that wisdom comes from Land, lived experience and ancestral connection.
What are we learning together?
Slow, steady, Devotion
We are a spiritual kaupapa dedicated to building spiritual resilience and wellness.
By practising creativity and creative thinking as a spiritual practise, we acknowledge Indigenous ways of reading, moving and cleansing our life force.
We develop in the art of decision making from our creative portals, to deepen our celestial relationship to the natural environment.
Ki te kotahi te kākaho ka whati, ki te kāpuia, e kore e whati.
We weave whakapapa as Māori People with other Indigenous Peoples who are navigating reconnection to lineage, Land and cultural resurgence.
To strengthen our kinship ecosystems.
Image of Djirri Djirri dancer jewellery by Tiff Garvie (Māreikura Exhibition, Immigration Museum, 2025)
To restory means to be straight up!
We are Indigenous AND beneficiaries of the colonial settler state - as settlers.
To Restory means we question the imposition of colonial histories* of the Indigenous peoples lands, lores and sovereignty we have settled upon, and where we uphold those impositions with tikanga Māori.
*(Corntassel, Chaw-win-is & T’lakwadzi 2009)
Restorying
We redistribute
We bridge research, personal experience, and inter-generational wisdom.
We redistribute knowledge, access and resources through creative forms, like visual art, film, poetry and performance art, or community gardens, gatherings and ritual.
Making knowledge exchange accessible to those marginalised by traditional education systems.
we find creative ways to honor Indigenous matrilineal systems
Who are we?
the Hine Ngākau Framework
Nurtured by a collective of wāhine Māori, takataapui, and queer kare mā of performance art, spoken word, well-being, food sovereignty, sound and somatic healing, kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga, astronomy, and accessibility, death care, grief care, philosophy, theology and community development - who are or have been settlers of the Kulin Nations.
We are using our skills to bring our communities through systemic inequities, and into their own development of self sovereignty, with resources and tools from our kete, and kinship five generations deep.
Because we always could.
Noticeboard
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Mindful Mob
Tautoko a collective of trauma-informed practitioners, counsellors and healers - who have a specialised approach for Allies to live life practically in the means of allyship and discover your own heart-centered life on Country.
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How I met Māhuika
Navigating the ara through perimenopause - Personal accounts of how we navigate this journey into our Māhuika era.
Please submit your lived experiences, including symptoms, feelings, doctors responses and what you’ve since learnt about yourself and your body.
One word minimum
200 word maxNames are optional.
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A Mihi to Country
A tikanga based approach of how and why we mihi to Country…everyday.
Coming soon…
Sign up to stay in the loop.
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Biik Bundjil
Sign up to tautoko amplifying the model of care framework from local Boonwurrung leaders Biik Bundjil. Who invite all visitors to proudly share in Boonwurrung history, culture, and connection to Country.