These perspectives of time are normalised in Kaupapa Māori research – that is, research conducted by, with and for Māori, or, in other words, research with a Māori agenda (Smith 1999 Cram 2017). The past is central to and shapes both present and future identity. The strength of carrying one’s past into the future is that ancestors are ever present. From this perspective, the individual carries their past into the future. This whakataukī or ‘proverb’ articulates Māori perspectives of time, where the past, the present and the future are viewed as intertwined.
![hapu pregnant hapu pregnant](https://46south.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/hapu_as.jpg)
Māori world views recognise that our past is non-linear, we are intertwined – Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua (‘I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past’) (MacDonald et al. For Māori, who are often failed by the current health system, the best start to life and lifelong health and wellbeing includes the legitimation of Māori ways of being, knowing and doing.
![hapu pregnant hapu pregnant](http://news.tangatawhenua.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/eMoeMama.jpg)
Hapū Ora recognises that the health and wellbeing of pregnant māmā ensures the best start to life as the foundation for the first 1000 days (Barnes et al. Both good clinical care and wraparound support are crucial for good outcomes for māmā (mothers) and pēpi (infants), leading to timely birth, and lifelong health and wellbeing. Preconception, pregnancy and the first 1000 days have been highlighted as a focus for improving wellbeing for whānau (extended family) within Aotearoa New Zealand (New Zealand College of Public Health Medicine 2017).