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Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, NZ

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Tools included:

Various types of wood were used for making waka kererū (wood pigeon snares), paepae kiore (rat snares), and gardening tools.

The bark of trees such as mānuka formed part of snares.

Homage was paid to the various gods and goddesses before, during, and after making tools, and during the food-gathering processes. Māori also adhered strongly to the Māori, which they used as a guide for times to fish, go eeling, hunt, and plant.

Change and revival

When metal tools and the gun arrived, many traditional food-gathering methods and tools changed. However, there has been a major revival of traditional food-gathering methods over the past 30 or so years, and many books have been written about these methods.

Video: Tales from Te Papa - 'Te Takinga Pataka' (a food storage house)

Pōhā (bull kelp bags)

The outer skin of rimurapa (bull kelp) is airtight. Air is trapped in the honeycomb-like structure inside each blade. Food preserved inside a pōhā can be kept safely for up to two or three years.

Traditional pōhā (bull kelp bags) are still used today by South Island Māori to preserve many types of food, and to transport preserved food from one area to another.

Making pōhā to store muttonbirds

1. In January or February, the rimurapa blades are gathered, cut to the right length, and hollowed out.

2. In March, the pōhā hau (hollowed-out blades) are inflated and placed outside to soften in the night dew.

3. The pōhā are rolled up, ready to be taken to the Tītī Islands for the start of the muttonbird season in April.

To prepare and store the tītī, Ngāi Tahu:

1. wrap the birds in pouaka (fescue grass)

2. leave them in a trench for a few days

3. soak them in an ipu (wooden bowl) in water heated by hot stones until the fat has seeped out and lies at the bottom

4. place the birds in pōhā and cover them with their own fat

5. plug the top of the pōhā with a wooden plug

6. protect the outside of the pōhā with kiri tōtara (tōtara bark)

The finished pōhā has a distinctive shape designed to be easily thrown and caught - there are no beaches on which to land supplies on the Tītī Islands. Pōhā are often made to hold up to 110 birds, although the average size holds 40 to 50.

Other uses

Pōhā were used to carry fresh water.

Pōhā mata (fresh kelp bags that have not been dried) were used to enclose food as it cooked in an umu (earth oven).

Pōhā were used in the propagation of seafood - a process called whakawhiti kaimoana. Live seafood (shellfish, starfish, and pāua) would be put in pōhā, taken to a new area, and placed in the sea. Special slits in the sides of the pōhā would open up, letting the seafood escape to seed the new area and attract others of its species.

There are stories of Ngāi Tahu using pōhā for surfing, long before the arrival of surfboards! They would take two pōhā, blow them up tight, tie them together, then put the string over their necks and a pōhā under each arm. They could paddle out to sea and come back in over the breakers like a bird. This sport was called kauai or kaukau.

Pōhā were also used to protect the body when gathering seafood on the open coast. They were worn over the torso or other limbs like wetsuits, or made into sandals to be worn on the rocks while fishing or gathering seafood.

An ancient name

Pōhā is an ancient Polynesian word that is still used throughout the Pacific. In Tonga, the word 'puha' means a container, carton, box, or other means of storage. In Te Wai Pounamu (New Zealand's South Island), this word gradually became pōhā.
Video: Tales from Te Papa - 'A Seaweed Pantry'
Paepae kiore (rat snare)

Māori caught (Māori rat or Mus exulans) by the setting of paepae kiore (rat snares). The snares are made from mānuka bark, aka pirita (supplejack), and muka (flax fibre). They were baited with kūmara (sweet potato) and set on a kiore track. When a kiore entered the opening of the paepae kiore to eat the bait, its head would be caught in a snare that tightened around its neck, and its foot would trigger a spring that jerked its head up and strangled it.

When many kiore had been caught, they were skinned, cooked, and preserved in their own fat in taha huahua (gourds) until needed. The kiore were usually in good condition for catching and eating during late autumn and winter, and were a high-protein delicacy.

Waka kererū (pigeon snare)

Kererū and tūī were often snared after feeding on the berries of the maire, uwha, houhou, miro, and mako trees. They would become thirsty and head for the nearest water, where a waka kererū, wai tuhi, or wai taeke (various kinds of pigeon snares) was waiting.

Waka kererū were made out of blocks of wood, usually tōtara, which were carved out. A pair of mānuka sticks was placed at each end of the wood blocks, and harakeke (flax) snares suspended between the sticks. The snares were then placed in the trees, ready for thirsty kererū. A kererū would go to the waka kererū to drink, place its head through one of the flax loops, and, as it lowered its head, the noose would tighten, ensnaring the bird. Kererū would then be cooked and preserved in their own fat in taha huahua (gourds).

During snaring season, fowlers would go out at dawn, check the snares, remove any captured birds, and reset the snares again. If kererū were plentiful, this would be done twice a day.

Waka kererū (pigeon trough, snare), 19th century, North Island, maker unknown. Te Papa (ME001973)

Tāruke (crayfish pot)

John Phillip Puketapu, a kaumātua (elder) from Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika, made this tāruke (crayfish pot) for Te Papa.

John was a teenager during the Depression (1929-39). As they had so little money, John's parents and extended family used traditional Māori ways of gathering food. John says tāruke were used to catch many varieties of seafood besides crayfish, such as conga eels and fish.

This tāruke is made from the pakiaka (aerial root) of the kiekie, which is found growing in trees in the bush, and aka pirita (supplejack). Once John had enough pakiaka, they were boiled in an oil drum for an hour to loosen their thick bark. The bark was then easily removed by being pulled through a forked stick. The pakiaka were mostly used for the bindings of the tāruke and needed to be kept in water to stay flexible. However, the aka pirita was kept dry.

Tāruke (crayfish pot), 2000, by John Puketapu. Te Papa (ME022091)

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Various types of wood were used for making waka kererū (wood pigeon snares), paepae kiore (rat snares), and gardening tools. The bark of trees such as mānuka formed part of snares. Homage was paid to the various gods and goddesses before, during, and after making tools, and during the food-gathering processes.

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Weaving Plants - biology, distribution, and propagation

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Background to cloaks / Dyeing 1 / Overview of Chemistry / Welcome to Kei te mōhio anō koe? - Kei te mōhio koe

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This is a video clip of Rangi Te Kanawa at Te Papa, she talks about her background and whānau. She shows some of the different cloaks and discusses their histories and relationships and the expertise that went into making the cloaks.

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Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, NZ

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Origins and traditional method of tā moko

The Western and Eastern Pacific method of tattooing is based on the use of broad toothed combs of varying widths called uhi, dipped in dark pigment, and struck into the skin with small mallets known as tā. The teeth of the comb pierce the skin and deposit the pigment. Māori brought this method of tattooing with them from Eastern Polynesia.

As the art and practice of tā moko developed in isolation in Aotearoa New Zealand, Māori pioneered the use of smaller, narrower uhi without teeth that cut grooves through the skin.

This process was followed by the application of small, toothed uhi combs that applied the pigment. This method of tā moko applied to the face is a form of scarification, which in practice is very similar to wood carving, and is characterised by deep grooved furrows stained with dark pigment.

Meanings behind the motifs

The meaning and significance of these design motifs appears to be a complex interplay between high aesthetic and a visual language that underscores artistic excellence, identity and role.

Many of the design motifs are universal, especially the spiral elements applied to the nose, cheek, and lower jaws, and the curvilinear rays on the forehead and from the nose to the mouth. The remaining elements were carefully chosen to accentuate and enhance the individual features, giving meaning to the expression Mataora, the living face.

Moko may also indicate social status, role, and expressions of identity though genealogy, but this remains unclear.

Tā moko in the 19th and 20th century

Tā moko has undergone significant changes since its practice was disrupted through colonisation and the adoption of Christianity in the mid-19th century.

Missionaries, and Pākehā generally, perceived it as a distasteful practice, even while being somewhat fascinated by it.

This view particularly affected a young generation of Māori men specifically, and to a lesser extent women.

The last men to be tattooed during this period died during the 1920s, but women from various districts continued to be tattooed through to the 1920s.

How the tools and process of tā moko changed

The tattooing process itself changed early in the contact period, and certainly by the 1840s metals started to replace bone in the manufacture of uhi, tattooing chisels, and combs.

One especially interesting account of the use of metal uhi occurred with the tattooing of Iwikau Te Heuheu of Ngāti Tūwharetoa (Taupō district) in 1841. The operation was witnessed by Edward Jerningham Wakefield of the New Zealand Company, who commented:

'The instruments used were not of bone, as they used formerly to be; but a graduated set of iron tools, fitted with handles like adzes... The man spoke to me with perfect nonchalance for quarter of an hour, although the operator continued to strike the little adzes into his flesh with a light wooden hammer the whole time, and his face was covered with blood.' [Edward Jerningham Wakefield. Adventure in New Zealand from 1839 to 1844. Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd, Wellington, 1908, p.425]

But perhaps the biggest shift in practice was the adoption of needle tattooing during the late 19th century and early 20th century. The use of grouped needles became the most common form of tattooing throughout the world during this period, and it was the form most commonly applied to pūkauae, the female chin tattoo, in the early 20th century. It's still the most ubiquitous form practised in the world today.

Reclaiming moko

The ever-decreasing generation of kuia moko kuia moko tattooed female/women elders inspired a young group of artists and carvers following the protest movement of the 1970s to reclaim moko as a unique expression of Māori identity.

Combined with the interest of academics like Michael King and the continued popularity of the published works of Gottfried Lindauer and Charles Frederick Goldie, and colonial artists like George French Angas, it helped reawaken the interest of a new generation in this venerable and unique art form.

The 1980s saw the rebirth of moko, but it wasn't until the 1990s that it really started to gain any real currency as an authentic artistic form and contemporary cultural practice.

But it really hit its stride in the 2000s. In the course of a single generation, a dedicated group of determined and courageous tohunga tā moko and tattoo practitioners reclaimed and revitalised the cultural practice of tā moko. A continuously growing demand from young Māori and not-so-young Māori has ensured that moko is now an increasingly seen and accepted part of mainstream New Zealand.

Sharing tattoo knowledge from around the Pacific

It's important to note that it's impossible to discuss moko in contemporary New Zealand society without mentioning the hugely significant role that our Samoan whanaunga, our Pacific cousins, have played in revitalising tā moko, especially , in generously sharing their knowledge and mentoring Māori in the practice of customary tā tatau.

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Tā moko | Māori tattoos: history, practice, and meanings

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The Western and Eastern Pacific method of tattooing is based on the use of broad toothed combs of varying widths called uhi, dipped in dark pigment, and struck into the skin with small mallets known as tā. The teeth of the comb pierce the skin and deposit the pigment.

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New Zealand Harakeke Flax Gel is nature's super hydrator with a natural antimicrobial action. Used in Living Nature skincare, Harakeke Flax Gel naturally soothes, hydrates and cools, reducing puffiness and redness.

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In the late 19th century Pāpāwai marae, outside Greytown, was the focus of the Kotahitanga - the Māori parliament movement, which sought to unify Māori tribes. With 3000 residents, Pāpāwai was known as 'the Māori capital'.

Transcript

Narrator: The small settlement of Greytown was once Wairarapa's main centre. Its Pāpāwai Marae was the site of an early Maori parliament.

A marae is a Māori meeting place, and Pāpāwai is a very important one. In the late nineteenth century, Pāpāwai, which means 'the tears of mother earth', was the focus of Kotahitanga, which means 'unity' in Maori, which was the Māori parliament movement.

Pāpāwai was established in the 1850s when the government set aside land for a Māori settlement near Greytown. Māori land was acquired in the Wairarapa in the 1850s and 1860s after the colonial government made Māori leases illegal. Until then, Wairarapa tribes had charged settlers rentals, while retaining their land. Once denied the right to lease their land, Maori had to sell if they wanted money. Even so, they refused to sell Lake Wairarapa.

The Crown relentlessly campaigned to buy the lake, assuring local tribes that they could still harvest it after its sale. In 1896, local chiefs reluctantly gave in. In return, they received £3000 and some land in Mangakino, in the central North Island. Soon afterwards, drainage of wetlands for pasture destroyed the network of waterways around the lake as well as eel and fish breeding habitats.

Near the meeting house at Pāpāwai is a funeral monument that resembles half a canoe hull. This is a memorial to the loss of Lake Wairarapa. The carvings depict the eels and flounder which were once plentiful in the area.

In the 1880s, Hāmuera Tamahau Mahupuku became the leader of Pāpāwai. Under Mahupuku, the marae experienced rapid growth. The Hikurangi meeting house was opened in 1888, and a large T-shaped structure was built for the Māori parliament.

The Kotahitanga movement sought to unify Māori tribes. The first Māori parliament met in 1892 in Hawkes Bay. Each year it convened in a different place to spread the concept of Kotahitanga throughout the North Island, where most Māori lived.

An exception occurred in 1897 and 1898 when the parliament met at Pāpāwai Marae for two years in a row. At the time, Pāpāwai was known as the 'Māori capital', with 3000 Māori residents.

In 1898 Pāpāwai hosted a large meeting to discuss government plans to administer Māori land. Mahupuku believed this would give Māori a degree of independence. He sided with the government, which split the Kotahitanga movement. The Māori parliament met for the last time in 1902.

Though the Maori parliament passed a resolution to end Māori land sales, for Wairarapa Māori the call came too late. By the end of the nineteenth century, the region had largely been acquired by Europeans.

Just before Mahupuku died in 1904, he built a palisade around the marae. It was later enhanced by 18 carved figures, which represented famous individuals from the area, including some Europeans. But rather than facing outward to protect the marae, as they do traditionally, the figures face inward. This is said to indicate a desire by Māori to live alongside the European settlers peacefully, as well as a willingness for Māori to look inward to find solutions to the challenges facing them.

In 1911 the government erected a marble memorial to Mahupuku at Pāpāwai, for his role in bringing Māori and Europeans together. During this time Pāpāwai declined and eventually the marae fell into disrepair until the 1960s when conservation work began on the carved figures. By the end of the 1980s they were fully restored.

Today, the marae is a vital part of local life, with new buildings including apartments for elders. It offers courses, including tai chi and line dancing.

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Pāpāwai, the Māori capital - roadside stories

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In the late 19th century Pāpāwai marae, outside Greytown, was the focus of the Kotahitanga - the Māori parliament movement, which sought to unify Māori tribes. With 3000 residents, Pāpāwai was known as 'the Māori capital'. Narrator: The small settlement of Greytown was once Wairarapa's main centre.

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History and Culture

History of Maori POI in New Zealand. Next Page >

"POI" is the Maori word for "ball" on a cord

See above an example of short and long Poi used in dance - Maori Kapahaka

The Poi was used, many years ago, by the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand to increase their flexibility and strength in their hands and arms as well as improving coordination.

Wahine (female) dancers perform the Maori Poi, a dance performed with balls attached to flax strings, swung rhythmically. Those pictured to the right are using short Poi.

The Poi Dance was originally used by the Maori women for keeping their hands flexible for weaving and by the men for strength and coordination required during battle. Poi are also used as a training aid for other ancient weapons like the Mere or Patu (Short club)

A History Of Poi in New Zealand- by Daisy Hemana

Tena koe to you,

Maori Raupo Poi - New ZealandI am a Maori lady who lives in Wellington NZ. I am of Ngati Whatua descsent (primarily). Although I am in my early 60s this is considered not too old by our standards. However we have passed on our tribal knowledge of Poi from our traditional sources based from Auckland and further northland. I was interested to read your History Of Poi from other tribal sources also.

We have a similar history from our tribe. We pass on through oure korero (or talk) of the Poi genealogy as having started with our gods creation, then through the use of flax made bags to carry a moa egg.

We call these bags kii. These carrying bags called kii were later used by our fighting warriors in training. The method was to put a large stone in the kii bag and swing this around to make the arms and wrists supple and strong and to test reactions. The kii bags made of flax had short ropes but when the warriors and boys trained with them they would put on extra lengths of rope.

We have a Maori game which is not much known today which uses just the kii bag so it is like a ball. This ball is called a kii. We use light stuffing inside of it, feathers or wool or clothing even. Long ago the stuffing would have been dog fur or feathers or plant fibres. When the moa birds died out the original kii bags were not needed because no other bird in our country has such a big egg. The kii were just used in our game and in training and the trainer kii became known as kiitoa or today as poitoa.

Later on the poitoa was used in action songs and this has become simply Poi. So in order came the flax kii bag which had flax rope attachment for carrying moa eggs and a bit later this rope was removed so that the kii was used like a ball in a game and for trainers some extra long rope would be added and a stone within the bag.

Much later the kiitoa became Poi that are seen much today.

I needed to let you know how we view the Poi History. AS Maori people We are not the same across the whole country, we have our own unique genealogies in not only our lives but also our implements and Poi. Thankyou for this way of letting me tell you.

Arohamai, Daisy Hemana

© 2003, Daisy Hemana , New Zealand

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Learn all about History and Culture. Free lesson on Poi History History of Maori POI in New Zealand.

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"POI" is the Maori word for "ball" on a cord See above an example of short and long Poi used in dance - Maori Kapahaka The Poi was used, many years ago, by the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand to increase their flexibility and strength in their hands and arms as well as improving coordination.

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Wayfinding basics

Before the invention of the compass, sextant and clocks, or more recently, the Global Positioning System (GPS), Polynesians navigated their ocean voyages without instruments. Instead, clues about position, direction, and distance came from the stars, sun, and moon; from patterns in the ocean, including currents, ocean swells, and localized wave characteristics; from clouds, the wind, and even from wildlife. Navigators also kept a mental log of their progress, always maintaining a sense of the distance covered and the present location.

Downwind sailing

Most traditional navigators plan their routes using a technique known as downwind sailing. The strategy is to set a course to a point at a given latitude upwind of the target island. Then, when you reach the correct latitude, you turn and let the wind carry you to your destination.

Downwind sailing helps simplify the challenge of locating the target island. If you sail directly toward your target and somehow miss it, you may not know which way to turn. Was it to the left or right? But if you sail to a point to one side (that is, east or west) and upwind of your target, you can then turn downwind and trust that the island is in front of you.

Winds and currents

For a successful sailing voyage you need very good knowledge of wind patterns and ocean currents. A strong current can be friend or foe, helping to carry you where you want to go or rapidly carrying you off course. Winds and currents vary widely from place to place and from season to season, and storms often disrupt the typical patterns. A good navigator thinks carefully about the likely winds and currents at the time of a voyage.

More about winds, currents and latitudes here: http://www.exploratorium.edu/neverlost/#/navigation/basics/plan/winds

The star compass

Traditional Polynesian navigators position themselves mainly by the stars, using what's called a star compass. The ability to read the night sky is a great skill. A star compass is used to help memorise the rising and setting points of the brightest and most distinctive stars and planets to set direction.

Navigators steer their waka toward a star on the horizon. When that star rises too high in the sky or sets beneath the horizon, another is chosen, and so on through the night. Seven to 12 stars are enough for one night's navigation, and the moon and bright planets such as Kōpō (Venus) and Pareārau (Jupiter) are also useful.

Read more on the Te Aurere star compass: http://teaurere.org.nz/star_compass.htm | http://teaurere.org.nz/star_positions.htm

Sun and moon

Of course, stars aren't visible all the time. That's when the sun and moon can help. At daybreak, navigators note the position of the waka in relation to the rising sun. As the sun gets higher in the sky, they look to where it will set in the evening. At night, if clouds or fog pass in front of your guiding stars, the moon may still be visible and a good bearing marker when it is near the horizon.

Ocean swells

When skies are too overcast for navigators to use the sun, the moon, planets or stars, ocean swells can fill in as a rough guide to direction. An experienced navigator can sense the direction swells are coming from as they pass under the waka. If you note the direction from which the swells are coming at a time when the stars are visible, those same swells can guide you when the stars disappear.

In the Pacific, prevailing north and south-easterly trade winds push up swells that remain constant for long periods. Navigators keep their waka at the same angle to these swells. Sudden changes in waka motion indicates that it has changed course.

But swell patterns can and do shift, so a navigator can't rely on them all the time. When all else fails, and there's no way to keep a correct bearing, a good navigator 'heaves to'; that is, takes down the sail and waits until he or she can set the course again.

Nearing land

Traditional navigators use a range of signs that show they are close to land before they can actually see it. Clouds hanging over high islands, reflections of lagoons in the sky, plants washed out into the ocean after a storm on land, wave refraction patterns (swells 'bouncing' off islands alters their patterns), and birds coming out to fish during the day and then returning to their home island are all signs used to detect land.

Exploring waka may have followed migrating birds, as told in Māori tradition. The long-tailed cuckoo comes to New Zealand from tropical Polynesia in October, and shearwaters would have been observed flying south in September. People would have known that land lay in that direction, but not how far away it was.

Modern Navigation

Modern navigation relies on technology such as GPS, radar and digital charts but having some knowledge of traditional methods of navigation can still be helpful.

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Before the invention of the compass, sextant and clocks, or more recently, the Global Positioning System (GPS), Polynesians navigated their ocean voyages without instruments. Instead, clues about position, direction, and distance came from the stars, sun, and moon; from patterns in the ocean, including currents, ocean swells, and localized wave characteristics; from clouds, the wind, and even from wildlife.

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An ancient waka found on the South Island's West Coast has created a scientific sensation around the world.

The 600-year-old canoe, with a turtle carved on its hull, is proving that Polynesians sailed between what is now French Polynesia and New Zealand.

A study of the waka by University of Auckland researchers appeared yesterday in the prestigious US Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Golden Bay resident Tony Nicholls was out on the West Coast Anaweka estuary for a family picnic after Christmas in 2011 when he saw something unusual.

He and his grandson saw a piece of wood sticking about 40 centimetres out of the creek bank. After almost three hours of digging, Nicholls and his family had unearthed a 6.2-metre section of an ancient waka.

The significant find is a well-preserved length of carved matai, with dozens of holes along the edges and "extraordinary" carvings on the hull. One of the most distinctive carvings is in the shape of a sea turtle.

"We knew it was something of interest but we still were not sure until we got down to the hull," Nicholls told Stuff in January 2012.

Today his hunch was proven with Live Science website reporting the researchers who examined the shipwreck say the vessel is more impressive than any other canoe previously linked to this period in New Zealand.

"It kind of took my breath away, really, because it was so carefully constructed and so big," said Dilys Johns, a senior research fellow at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

The hull measured about 6 metres long and it was made from matai. The boat had carved interior ribs and clear evidence of repair and reuse. Carbon dating tests showed that the vessel was last caulked with wads of bark in 1400.

The Auckland team which included Geoffrey Irwin and Yun Sung say it's likely that the hull once had a twin, and together, these vessels formed a double canoe.

Johns told Livescience the boat was surprisingly more sophisticated than the canoes described centuries later by the first Europeans to arrive in New Zealand.

The newly described canoe seems to represent a mix of that ancestral plank technology and an adaptation to the new resources on New Zealand, since the boat has some big, hollowed-out portions but also sophisticated internal ribs, Johns and colleagues wrote.

The turtle carving on the boat also seems to link back to the settlers' homeland.

Turtle designs are rare in pre-European carvings in New Zealand, but widespread in Polynesia, where turtles were important in mythology and could represent humans or even gods in artwork.

The study notes that in many traditional Polynesian societies, only the elite were allowed to eat turtles

The study published by Proceedings is titled "An early sophisticated East Polynesian voyaging canoe discovered on New Zealand's coast" and says the colonization of the islands of East Polynesia was a remarkable episode in the history of human migration and seafaring.

The Los Angeles Times ( http://www.latimes.com/ ) says the waka survived because the swampy, oxygen-poor spot it was buried in allowed the canoe to survive the centuries.

"It was one of those situations where it sort of took your breath away," Johns told the Times.

"I'd never seen anything like it."

The canoe shares some design elements with a canoe found about 30 years ago on Huahine in the Society Islands.

When Stuff reported the find it quoted Nicholls saying that when they saw the turtle "we immediately thought of the Pacific Islanders."

After extracting the waka with a tractor, Nicholls left his find in a shed and returned to Anaweka the next day to retrieve it. He used mattresses to protect the waka on his trailer during the two-hour drive back to Takaka.

Representatives from the local iwi - Manawhenua Ki Mohua - turned up to inspect the waka at Nicholls' workshop at Waitapu Engineering.

"I just went with the flow and they seemed to want to take it away," Nicholls said. After building a custom-made soak tank for the waka, Nicholls delivered the artefact to iwi hands, at a shed at Port Tarakohe.

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An ancient waka found on the South Island's West Coast has created a scientific sensation around the world. The 600-year-old canoe, with a turtle carved on its hull, is proving that Polynesians sailed between what is now French Polynesia and New Zealand.

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Our ancestors had extensive knowledge of fungi and multiple uses for a number of them. The uses include for kai and rongoā, tā moko and as a tinder to start fires.

Fungi for tattooing

Our ancestors found different ways to make colour for tattooing. Black is an important colour, and one of the ways to make black was using a fungus. But the special fungus used, called āwheto ( Ophiocordyceps robertsii), is light brown not black and is not often seen today. Somehow, our clever ancestors learned where it lives and collected lots of it. To get the black colour, they burnt it. Unlike wood that turns into grey ash when burnt, āwheto becomes black and can then be ground up into a black powder. This powder was mixed with bird fat to make the black colour for tattooing.

Āwheto is a very different kind of fungus from a mushroom, and is different from all other fungi used by our ancestors. It needs an insect as its food, but not just any insect. Only the large caterpillars of two kinds of native moth are the food that āwheto needs to grow. So how does āwheto, that can't move, find these special two kinds of caterpillar? It only happens by luck or, if you are the caterpillar, by bad luck!

Āwheto makes many tiny fungal spores so that one might be eaten by a caterpillar, maybe along with some leaves, or one might become stuck to its body. Āwheto spores somehow know when they have found a caterpillar and they start to grow using the caterpillar's insides as its food. You might guess what happens to the caterpillar!

This kind of caterpillar lives in a burrow in the soil when it's not feeding, with its head up and tail down, but it seems to also go there when not feeling well. When the fungus feeds on the body of the caterpillar, the dead caterpillar doesn't become soft and rot but instead becomes hard - rather like a human mummy. To make its spores, the fungus needs to grow out of the caterpillar and spread its spores above the soil. Somehow, the fungus knows that the shortest way above ground is from the head of the caterpillar, so it always starts growing out from there. It forms a straight stick-like fruiting body that grows up out of the soil and into the air. At its tip, spores are formed.

So what do you look for when trying to find āwheto? Simply a small brown stick coming out of the soil with a slightly pointed tip. If you are lucky enough to find it and carefully dig down into the soil, you will find the hard dead body of the caterpillar. Both the caterpillar mummy and fungus fruitbody were collected by our ancestors. But how did they find so many to use for tattooing?

Fungi for fire carrying

The pūtawa fungus feeds on the wood of living beech trees in Tāne-mahuta. Its fruitbodies are bracket shaped and often form high up on trunks. They grow quickly to a large size but only last a few weeks to months before becoming old and falling. When collected on the ground, they need to be dried out before they can be used.

Pūtawa was important as tinder - to help start a fire or as a way of carrying fire. When lit, a piece of the dried fruitbody can smoulder for a long time without bursting into flame, so it could be partly buried during the day and lit at night or carried until needed. It could also be used as a torch at night because it burns for a long time. Pūtawa also occurs in Australia where Aborigines used it for this same purpose.

For medical use, pūtawa was cut into flexible strips and used to surround and protect wounds. A hole larger than the wound was cut in the strip, and the pūtawa tied in place as a protective pad.

Wood carving

Tōtara is a tree of great importance including for building waka and for carving. Kaikākā refers to tōtara heartwood in the centre of old trees that has been decayed by one kind of fungus. The fungus, Inonotus lloydii, rots parts of the wood to form narrow honeycomb-like pockets, giving rise to an attractive effect in carvings. The decay weakens the affected wood and reduces its value for waka or building, but kaikākā wood can still be used for carvings and for fence posts. When reproducing, the fungus forms bracket-shaped fruitbodies on tōtara trunks.

Activity ideas

Acknowledgement

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Our ancestors had extensive knowledge of fungi and multiple uses for a number of them. The uses include for kai and rongoā, tā moko and as a tinder to start fires. Our ancestors found different ways to make colour for tattooing. Black is an important colour, and one of the ways to make black was using a fungus.

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Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, NZ

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Rongoā Māori is the traditional Māori healing system. This ancient lore, including plant use, massage, and incantations, has been passed down through many generations.

In traditional Māori medicine, ailments are treated in a holistic manner with:

spiritual healing

the power of karakia

the mana of the tohunga (expert)

by the use of herbs.

Traditionally, knowledge of rongoā was considered tapu (sacred) and was passed on to a select few. A person was selected for training by a tohunga pu (expert) from the whare wānanga (house of learning).

For Māori before European contact, forms of leprosy and tuberculosis might have been the only contagious diseases. Māori had no in-built immunity to diseases like the influenza, measles, and fevers that European contact brought.

Herbal treatments

Internal herbal treatments

Internal herbal treatments were given for:

respiratory ailments like asthma, bronchitis, and coughs

stomach, bowel, and urinary tract problems

menstrual and birthing difficulties

at least one form of tuberculosis.

External herbal treatments

External herbal treatments were given for:

Modern mix-ups

Most of the information that is known about rongoā is from the writings of early settlers and missionaries who either discussed or observed the traditional use of plants.

Different iwi have different names for the same plants. Alternatively, the same name can be used for different plants. Sometimes this caused confusion, with the use being applied to the wrong plant. For example, kahikātoa (another name for mānuka) was confused with kahikatea, a very different tree.

Scientific research

Some of the information relating to the medicinal use of plants has been supported through scientific studies and the study of the use of related plants in other parts of the world. For example, kawakawa has relatives that are used medicinally in other countries of the South Pacific and has been the focus of scientific research.

Medicinal uses of some New Zealand plants

This information was taken predominantly from the records of early settlers and missionaries and in some cases has not been verified. It is not a recommendation for self-medication.

Mānuka

Mānuka is abundant throughout New Zealand, from lowland to subalpine areas. Captain Cook used this plant to make tea, as he liked the bitter taste - hence its other common name, tea-tree.

An infusion of the bark is used externally and internally as a sedative. It was also used for scalds and burns. Ash made from the bark was rubbed onto the skin to treat skin diseases. Vapour from leaves boiled in water was used for colds. The inner bark was boiled and the liquid used as a mouthwash.
Read more about mānuka on Collections Online
Koromiko

Koromiko is widespread throughout New Zealand. An infusion of the leaves was used as an astringent for dysentery. Poultices were used for ulcers. It was considered good for the kidneys and bladder, as well as for diarrhoea and as a tonic.

Harakeke

Harakeke is found throughout New Zealand, predominantly in lowland swamps. The seed is currently used for oil as it is rich in linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid. Early records identify a wide range of uses for harakeke, from treating constipation to healing burns and gunshot and bayonet wounds.

The roots are noted as being used for colds and headaches whereas the leaves are used for stomach trouble. The liquid gained from boiling the roots is apparently a good substitute for castor oil.
Read more about harakeke on Collections Online
Kawakawa

This common plant is found throughout New Zealand in lowland forest. Kawakawa is distinctive because of its heart-shaped leaves, often riddled with holes from insect damage.

Kawakawa has been recorded as being used internally to tone the kidneys and help with stomach problems. Externally it was used for cuts, wounds, boils, abscesses, and nettle stings. It was also used for rheumatism and other aches and pains, including toothache. When kawakawa is thrown on a campfire and burned, it reputedly keeps mosquitoes away.
Read more about kawakawa on Collections Online
Tutu

members of iwi Ngāti Toa Rangatira, demonstrate a remedy for sprains, strains, and broken bones, using the poisonous plant tutu (Coriaria species). The properties of tutu can be used to treat arthritis, skin rashes, gout, and other ailments.

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Rongoā Māori is the traditional Māori healing system. Ailments are treated in a holistic manner.

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The kopa, also called a tāwiri, was an invention for squeezing the juice from tītoki berries. It was a flax bag in which the berries were placed, then pounded to release their juice. The kopa was squeezed by twisting it between two pairs of wooden handles. The juice was then filtered through ...

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As European goods began to arrive in New Zealand, Māori adapted them for new purposes. This pātītī is a hatchet-type weapon made by fixing the iron head of a whaling harpoon to a carved wooden handle.

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This section describes 3 models of Māori health.

One model for understanding Māori health is the concept of 'te whare tapa whā' - the four cornerstones (or sides) of Māori health. Read more.

Another model of Māori health is based on Te Wheke, the octopus and the eight tentacles that collectively contribute to waiora or total wellbeing. Read more.

Te Pae Mahutonga (Southern Cross Star Constellation) brings together elements of modern health promotion. Read more.

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This section describes 3 models of Māori health. One model for understanding Māori health is the concept of 'te whare tapa whā' - the four cornerstones (or sides) of Māori health. Read more. Another model of Māori health is based on Te Wheke, the octopus and the eight tentacles that collectively contribute to waiora or total wellbeing.