1 SiteS is licensed CC BY 4.0 unless otherwise specified. SiteS: New SerieS · Vol 19 No 1 · 2022 Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.11157/sites-id513 – article – ‘HĀPAI TE HAUORA’ – ‘IT’S LIKE BREATHING YOUR ANCESTORS INTO LIFE.’ NAVIGATING JOURNEYS OF RANGATAHI WELLBEING. Teah Anna Lee Carlson1, Jessie Rae Mullholland2, Victoria Jensen-Lesatele3, Octavia Calder-Dawe4 & Danielle Aroha Squire5 ABSTRACT Rangatahi described ‘hāpai te hauora’ as ‘breathing your ancestors into life’. is paper explores the ways rangatahi Māori make sense of and live ‘hāpai te hauora’ through sharing their stories of navigating wellbeing. Twenty rangatahi Māori (16–20 years) from diverse backgrounds living in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa (Auckland, New Zealand) were interviewed by Māori researchers. From the resulting rich and insightful data, short pūrākau (narratives) were analysed at a wānanga involving 34 rangatahi to further explore key findings and expressions of wellbeing through art, design and co-creation. Findings indicate that rangatahi Māori know and experience hauora as living shared values. ey search for safe spaces, both human and environmental, to grow, challenge and express who they are and who they want to be. Distinc- tions were consistently made between their own lived culture and the dominant colonial culture. Rangatahi Māori described a yearning to be seen, heard and sovereign just as they are. Keywords: wellbeing, hauora, rangatahi, Māori, navigation, qualitative research, pūrākau. INTRODUCTION Te Amorangi ki mua, te hāpai ō ki muri – Explorations of breathing our ancestors into life Over a thousand years ago, tīpuna Māori navigated the largest ocean on earth – Te Moana Nui a Kiwa – to first arrive, and then return, to Aotearoa. ey