Patrick Salmon is an advocate and public voice for ways to share and uphold the well-being of Māori in modern-day society. He uses his creative skills and innovative thinking to develop solutions that support the oranga aspirations of a person's life journey.
Patrick has a Master's degree in Applied Indigenous knowledge from Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Waikato, a certificate in Māori Performing Arts from Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, years of experience and support in the governance space for tribal and mainstream entities along with a multitude of different community groups that support the wellbeing of Māori.
While at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, Patrick worked on bringing ancestral knowledge to people with the support of different technologies, a traditional taonga to help Māori wāhine empower themselves to tackle harmful habits and stay smoke-free while pregnant. He looked at how to enable wooden heru combs to interact with a smartphone app, triggering an augmented reality experience that incorporated traditional wisdom about the protective power of the heru to tackle personal challenges and unleash potential.
Patrick has a background in social services and felt new ideas were needed to change the way Māori are experiencing the health sector. He looked at the traditional wearing of heru as a protective practice to support mental and spiritual health and a fun way of connecting to Te Ao Māori.
Patrick is the founder and managing director of Kairua, an online movement dedicated to creating positive change within communities across Aotearoa and the globe through his Indigenous Innovation work. Patrick has accumulated an online community of over 100k innovators and creators who tune in, interact and share content daily across multiple social media platforms.
Patrick has been an advocate for creating public discussions on gender and moko[ab1] tattoos. He believes tā moko is our cultural alphabet and is used to write and reflect each individual's personal journey. Patrick's work supports and challenges ideas of how to create a new normal by maintaining traditions and allowing for the growth of expression.
Links:
