WHAIORA: MAORI HEALTH DEVELOPMENT by MASON DURIE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1998 (2ND EDITION).

• Author: Stuart, Keriata
• Position: Review

In reviewing this book, it is fitting to recall the recent passing of Mason Durie's father. While Durie dedicates Whaiora to his mokopuna, and to future generations, the book also serves to recognise and respect the efforts of all those who have worked quietly for Maori development.

One small measure of the influence of this book on Aotearoa New Zealand can be found inside the title page, which reveals that it was reprinted four times over the four years between the first edition of 1994 and this revised edition.

Whaiora was launched at the Hui Whakapumau of 1994, in a climate where the Maori present were both deeply aware of the opportunities being offered by the 1993 changes to the health system, and concerned about the impacts that years of economic shocks were having on the health of iwi, hapu and whanau. Whaiora could not have been published at a better time.

The many interwoven themes can best be summed up in Durie's own introduction: "Maori health development is essentially about Maori defining their own priorities for health and then weaving a course to realise their collective aspirations" (p.1). The book reminded us that in Te Ao Tawhito (the world before European arrival) an integrated view of health was central to the functioning of Maori society. Whaiora told stories, some known to many and some new or freshly told, of the tupuna who fought for the right to define what Maori health was, and who struggled to realise their visions. It also offered a series of frameworks, captured in the crisp tables that dotted the text, to help the growing body of Maori health workers, researchers and managers.

There are few academic books published in the last decade that have been as useful. This is why the revision has more significance than simply updating a textbook. While much of the original text remains, Chapters Nine, Ten, and Eleven have been substantively rewritten and expanded to capture developments and changes since 1993.

Whaiora opens with Kimiora, the introduction, which sets out the book's themes, as well as its underpinning assumptions. For Durie:

Enough is known about health to justify an integrated approach to cultural, social and economic development and to recognise the futility of designing highly sophisticated treatment procedures while blatantly ignoring educational failure or inadequate housing. (pp1-2) From the beginning, Durie also makes clear his view that that spirituality is an essential component of health for...