Matewai McCudden

This is an unedited recording of an interview with Māori educator and speech-language therapist Matewai McCudden. She is interviewed by Dianne Stogre Power on the impact of glue ear [otitis or chronic ear infections] on Māori children and their learning.

Matewai (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Rakaipaaka, Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata and Te Arawa) is kairaranga with Te Tohu Umanga Matauranga, Special Education Services.

She begins by talking abut the M.I.H.I. programme, which stands for Multi Intervention of the Hearing Impaired. She says Waikato Waiora, the Area Health Board and Special Education Services have interpreted it for Māori children who have been affected by glue ear.

She talks about how she came to be a speech-language therapist. Her Uncle Doug [Pohio Sinclair] was a doctor working in Tolaga Bay, related to Sir Tipene O'Regan and Keith Sinclair and a highly educated man. She used to stay with him during school holidays and describes uncoverng a wāhi tapu in the sand dunes and her uncle looking to see if there was evidence of glue ear in the skulls, to establish if the condition was a recent disease.

She wanted to become a nurse but contracted polio and was told she would not have the strength, so did teacher training instead. Her uncle encouraged her to look at language development and its role in literacy. In the 1950s, she says her uncle was already aware that feeding babies cow's milk formula was not as good for them as breastmilk. He also encouraged mothers to make sure babies were not fed lying down and not dressed in synthetic fibres. He also looked at the role of damp houses in poor health outcomes for Māori babies and increased incidence of glue ear.

He looked at the Eustachian tubes of elderly Māori and discovered they had finer, thinner Eustachian tubes, which contributed to a higher incidence of glue ear in Māori children, once the effects of colonisation began to impact their health. This then had a flow-on effect on their learning, leading to poorer education outcomes, and lower socio-economic status.

Matewai explains that evidence of glue ear can be seen in skulls by erosion of the mastoid bone, which leads to the ear. Her uncle [Dr Doug Sinclair] showed her many 400-600 year old Māori skulls which had no sign of this - or of tooth decay. She says it is important for rangatahi to be proud that their ancestors were healthy and that conditions like glue ear and dental caries are recent.

She says it is appalling that the impact of glue ear on learning only began to be recognised when the Special Education Service came into being. Matewai talks about the work S.E.S. has done in this field and testing of children's hearing and learning.

Matewai then talks about the role of Māori grandparents in raising their mokopuna and discovering their skills or talents. She had a good memory for music and used to be able to remember lyrics of recorded songs and waiata from a young age. She talks about the ability of Māori children to read body language and strategies for working with children, including the use of environmental materials.