Initiating decolonization: from The Last Straw! to Whāriki

Abstract

The board game, The Last Straw!, is part of the Aotearoa (New Zealand) public health and medical curriculum at the University of Otago. An engaging and effective teaching tool about the social determinants of health, the game falls short by being silent about Indigenous experiences. A project is underway to adapt The Last Straw! for play following an Indigenous framework, kaupapa Māori (Māori (Indigenous people of Aotearoa) approach). The game board is being redesigned as Whāriki, a woven mat. The mat represents a metaphor for life as strands of thread are woven throughout the lifecourse, and the thread characteristics impact the strength and qualities of the mat. This brief commentary outlines the first stage of adapting this resource, illustrating decolonizing the public health and medical curriculum in a way that honours and embeds te ao Māori (the Māori worldview), making them visible and intentional.