A chance introduction between an international author and a Māori Pou Arahi by master carver Delani Brown has jettisoned Kim Eriksen-Downs from Taupō to Dubai to talk about the power of indigenous healing.

Eriksen-Downs is an expert panellist alongside Richard Kay, New Zealand Ambassador to United Arab Emirates and Natalia Al Mansour, Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia at Dubai’s Expo City venue hosting the COP28 Summit.

Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) is held annually and this year will be addressed by Pope Francis who will inaugurate the “Faith pavilion” on-site.

Eriksen-Downs and Kay appeared at the invitation of Dr Saša Božič, co-founder of the Green Heart Foundation and one of the project leads in the Slovenian pavilion.

Kim Eriksen-Downs speaking with Richard Kay, New Zealand Ambassador to United Arab Emirates. Photo / Supplied

When visiting Aotearoa, Božič was so enamoured with Eriksen-Downs’ knowledge of mātauranga Māori and tikanga, that she included the wahine in her book, ‘One World, One Family’.

It was written after spending a year travelling to 11 countries to learn wisdom from 11 indigenous tribes on how to live with a green heart. The pavilion exhibited content from all 11 tribes featured in the book, including Māori.

“Respecting the rights, cultures, and self-determination of indigenous peoples is a fundamental aspect of human rights and global efforts towards inclusivity, justice, and social sustainability,” Božič, is quoted as saying in the book.

“It is an attempt to retrace our steps back to our roots and try to bridge the psychic gap between the rootedness of the past and the unstable multiplicity of the present, towards a future that is whole and healthy. The future of One World and One Family.”

Eriksen-Downs, a frontline practitioner with more than 30 years’ experience in the social services sector, supporting rangatahi, wāhine and tāne Māori to heal from family violence and sexual violence, was surprised at the offer of this trip-of-a-lifetime by the Executive Coach.

Kim Eriksen-Downs with Dr Saša Bavec in Dubai. Photo / Supplied

During the 2020-2022 Covid era, Božič mentored more than 200 global senior corporate executives from the construction industry.

“Saša wasn’t kidding when she told me I’d be one of the stars of the show,” she said. Her panel discussion was centred on universal connectedness and the strength of te ao Māori healing practices.

Eriksen-Downs, (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, (Ngāti Kahungunu, Whanganui, Raukawa, Mokai Patea) is a longtime leader in healing and a current member of Te Pūkitahitanga, an independent tangata whenua ministerial advisory group in the prevention of family violence and sexual violence.

“The focus for me was what indigenous practices from te ao Māori could I share that are transformative in mental wellness and family and sexual violation because it’s all connected, “ she said.

“Everybody’s talking about intergenerational trauma, but we need to be more focused on intergenerational healing,” she said. “It comes from telling our stories of our whenua which then can help to heal our people.

“Whānau get to know about the whenua, the waterways, the moana, the mountains, and the stories of our nation and our people, and then look for the healing elements within those stories and implement and embed them in day to day lives.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s experienced in wairua, a tinana or hinengaro, it is what I call intergenerational healing and it benefits the whole family. And if it’s going to benefit our family, then it can benefit any family.

“My intention is to share with the world that they too can heal through their own stories and through their own conversations with their people.

“Intergenerational healing is possible because we do it in Aotearoa. How the world does it, is not to tell them but give examples from our people.

“They look up to us as Māori – to them we’re leading the way. Obviously, we have a lot to offer as people. It’s not what we do, it’s how we do it with our people.

“Saša talks about indigenous practices for the modern-day man. Now we cannot impose our indigenous practices upon them. They need to go inward to figure out their own indigenous practices. But we can share a window into our worldview to assist them to see what’s possible.”

After Dubai, Eriksen-Downs goes to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, for the official launch of ‘One World, One Family’ where she’ll visit the sacred sites of the municipality of Bohinj in the alps after showing Božič the equivalent in Taupō.

Sarah Sparks is a freelance Māori journalist who works across multiple Māori organisations’ kaupapa.