Weaving Ourselves Back Together: Te Whare Takatāpui as Rongoā for Takatāpui Wellbeing

Te Whare Takatāpui is a health framework developed by Elizabeth Kerekere (2023) to envision a positive future for Māori of diverse genders, sexualities and sex characteristics (takatāpui). Te Whare Takatāpui includes the six concepts of whakapapa, wairua, mouri , mana, tapu, tikanga. In this Kaupapa Māori visual autoethnography, using layered photographs, I explore how I engage with each of these aspects of the framework, through everyday practices that promote my health and wellbeing as a takatāpui person. My engagement with Te Whare Takatāpui provides an example of the power we can harness to affect both individual and collective healing in a context of decolonisation: to weave ourselves back together.