07/04/2025
Your an amazing Kaiako my darling, a natural teacher, I’m privileged that you embody the realm of Maara kai, I hope I’m a good tauira!lol
Excerpt from my Kai Oranga, level 3 assessment with wananga o awanuiārangi.
- Describe a significant event from first contact with European to the contemporary world that has impacted on rongoa and kai.
I’m currently reading an intriguing book titled “NGĀ MAHI" penned by an Australian born man called "Jason Hartley". In the duration of reading his writings I can tell he is a Christian man, with a non-Christian biased view of spirituality, which is very refreshing. He had an extensive career in Australia being a police officer, and was furthering his career by studying criminology. He was dating a Māori wāhine and had felt the pull to move to Aotearoa alongside his beloved. Before making the move to Aotearoa, he came for a brief visit in relation to his mahi in criminology.
During his stay, his accomodation was at Mt eden prison, one of the old prison wings had been renovated into an accommodation complex for staff. One night as he was sleeping, he had a divine experience where the room he was in lit up, and across from him stood a middle aged man dressed in chiefly attire, there were no audible words exchanged between them, yet through sensations he could hear the chief challenging him about a journey he was to embark on, Jason intuitively knew that this chiefs name was "Mokomoko”. Approximately a year after this visitation from the Māori ancestor, Jason shared the dream to his now wife’s mother who was funnily enough a lecturer in Māori studies. Once he had explained the dream/visitation and ultimately the chiefs name, his wife’s mother knew exactly who was speaking of when he mentioned the name Mokomoko.
Mokomoko was a renowned leader and chief from the iwi “Whakatohia”. In colonial times, due to his profound leadership and non-compliance to British rule, he was framed and arrested as were other rangatira of that time and imprisoned at Mt eden prison, and then eventually hung. What better way to weaken and dismantle a people by the extermination of their impactful rangatira. The tragic irony of all this, is that mt eden prison was part of a mechanism (System) to dismantle the social controls and leadership of Māori, while nowadays the very same prison is used to incarcerate their descendants who are very much the product of too little social control and not enough leadership!
Within the chapters of this book, I read about our ancient “Tohunga Whare Wananga”. A Māori school where ancient knowledge was passed down, skills such as genealogy, astronomy, chants and karakia, also Rongoa and Kai. Which was persecuted by the colonials of that time, to the point the Whare Wananga could only operate underground and out of site, which eventually led to its demise. The Tohunga Suppression Act 1907 was intended to stop people using traditional Māori healing practices which had a supernatural or spiritual element. In a subtle and systemic way, the suppression of this act trickled its way into our holistic way of maintaining wellness, and was overshadowed by western medicine.
Rongoā Māori encompasses herbal remedies, physical therapies and spiritual healing. In early Māori history Tohunga were seen as the earthly medium of the controlling spirits and influenced all aspects of life. Illness was viewed as a symptom of disharmony with nature. If a person was sick, the Tohunga would first determine what imbalance had occurred, before the illness could then be treated both spiritually and physically. Physical healing involving either herbal remedies or the appropriate kai to be administered.
Rongoa Māori Today:
Despite the suppression act, the training of Tohunga still continued over the years and knowledge was passed on and developed. In 1962, as a result of a review that differentiated between Māori and Europeans, the Tohunga suppression act was repealed. With the resurgence of Māori culture in the past few decades Rongoa Māori has regained its prominence, in which I will do my revolutionary part in ensuring it remains that way! Your return to the soil, is indeed a revolutionary act.
