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What is Māori Traditional Plant Knowledge?

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What is Māori Traditional Plant Knowledge?

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Māori Traditional Knowledge (also known as Mātauranga Māori) encompasses the world view, methods, techniques, culture, and understanding of Māori culture (Hikuroa, 2017). Plant knowledge is apart of Mātauranga Māori, as plants were harnessed by Māori to be used in many ways both medicinally and non-medicinally (tools, clothing, etc.).

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Many native plants were utilised for medicinal, health, and healing purposes. Many were used for topical treatments to treat burns and excema, whereas some were even used to treat conditions as serious as bone fractures (Brooker & Cooper, 1961). Some examples are below...

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Plants were used by Māori for more physical application, such as timber, tools, clothing, carrying apparatuses and more (Lai, et al. 2019). Here are some examples below...

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Pōhuehue (scientific name Calystegia sepium) is a native vascular plant. It's medicinal use involved harvesting the roots of the plants, which were then consumed by mothers to help with lactation and milk flow (Brooker & Cooper, 1961).

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Māpou (scientific name Myrsine australis), is a small tree / large shrub which grows all over Aotearoa (Wardle & Platt, 2011). The use of this plant was for the treatment of toothache, where the leaves of the tree were plucked and infused into a solvent such as water, which was then held in the mouth or swallowed (Brooker & Cooper, 1961)

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Kōhia (scientific name Passiflora tetrandra) is an endemic plant species of Aotearoa, which is a climbing forest vine that produces small white flowers and fruits (Cave & Paddison, 1999). Māori harvested its seeds, and pressed them to make seed oil which was applied topically to treat chronic sores on the skin (Brooker & Cooper, 1961).

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Tōtara trees are a large, endemic podacarp species. It was harnesssed by Māori due to its strong durability, large tree size, and attractive colour (Simpson, 2017). Specifically, the wood was made into timber, which was then used to construct houses, make furniture, and make compartments to store food (Simpson, 2017).

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Rimurapa (scientific name Durvillaea antarctica) is a kelp found on the coast of New Zealand. The kelp was harvested from the shore by Māori, who used blades to split the large section of the kelp to create a pocket (Mukherjee, n.d.). These bags were used to store skinned mutton birds, and also used as a protecting layer when cooking fish (Mukherjee, n.d.).

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Harakeke (scientific name Phormium tenax), is a native, evergreen plant of Aotearoa. Harakeke was used as a textile material, and was commonly preferred due to the long nature of its leaves (Mckendry, 2020). The leaves were split into strips, where each section was then used to weave baskets, which were used to help transport materials and store food (Mckendry, 2020).

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Brooker, S. G., & Cooper, R. C. (1961). New Zealand medicinal plants. Economic botany, 15(1), 1-10.

Cave, Y., & Paddison, V. (1999). The gardener's encyclopaedia of New Zealand native plants. (No Title).

Hikuroa, D. (2017). Mātauranga Māori—the ūkaipō of knowledge in New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 47(1), 5-10.

Lai, J. C., Robinson, D. F., Stirrup, T., & Tualima, H. Y. (2019). Māori knowledge under the microscope: appropriation and patenting of mātauranga Māori and related resources. The Journal of World Intellectual Property, 22(3-4), 205-233.

Mckendry, L. (2020). Māori Archaeological Textiles. Records of the Auckland Museum, 55, 19-28.

Mukherjee, B. “Unnamed Islands in the Unknown Sea”–A Blood Narrative.

Simpson, P. (2017). Tōtara: a natural and cultural history. Auckland University Press.

Wardle, J. A., & Platt, I. (2011). Wardle's Native Trees of New Zealand and their story. New Zealand Farm Forestry Association.