My father-in-law, Haare Williams (now in his 70’s),  grew up with his Maori grandparents, Rimaha and Wairemana, on the shores of Ohiwa Harbour near Whakatane, New Zealand. Here he recounts the food they ate, especially the kumara (please see my related post: “Kumara to KFC”). The back-breaking work, the use of the stars to guide planting and harvest times and the ingenious storage method – it’s a far cry from my quick drive to the vegetable shop to buy a few kumara for my roast beef!  Thank-you, Haare, for sharing your memories and treasured knowledge with us in this 3-part series.

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“Ko te kumara i a Rangi

Ko Pekehawani ka noho i a Rehua

Ko Ruhiterangi ka tau kei raro

Te ngahuru tikotiko i a Uru

Ko Poutu te rangi te matahi o te tau

Te Putunga o te hinu e

Tama”

(Excerpt from Ori ori from Te Aitanga a Mahaki tribe)

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Of all the crops at hand to us at Karaka, the most valued was kumara. You see, kumara has a long whakapapa and apart from the story of Poutini, the green eye of pounamu, and later the movements of whales, kumara is a part of the epic journey of Maori across the Pacific to Aotearoa. Acknowledged in songs and whakapapa, kumara is traced to Maui Wharekino and Pani their mating seed they begat the essence of kumara.

The arrival in Aotearoa of two migratory birds, the shining cuckoo with its distinctive call, was celebrated with songs, prayers and tears of joy. The other was the long tail cuckoo. They too paved a pathway to this land and back again, guided by instinct and the prevailing currents.

The sacred seeds after all, were borne here on the backs of two giant birds, nga Manunui a Ruakapanga, across Te Moananui-a-Kiwa from Parinhuitera.

Rimaha and Wairemana each year scanned the skies for the appearance Te Aotahi and Takurua (Canopus and Rigel), sent a prayer to Rehua (Antares) and his two wives, Pekehawani and Ruhiterangi, guardians for the seasons of planting and for the harvest. They offered thanks to these deities as kaitiaki of kumara.

The planting season was marked with rituals, which ushered in the calls of spring and planting. Rimaha and Wairemana followed closely the seasons of the moon and awaited and read the appearance of Matariki (Pleiades) and Puanga (Rigel) in the sky. Their appearance indicated the beginning of the season for planting. Planting and harvesting were determined by appearances of lunar measures, which they understood and applied knowledge honed over centuries of observation and practice by their tipuna.

Planting, cultivating, and preserving food was an art with Rimaha and Wairemana. That isn’t surprising given that they, and their hapu came through a time where mere survival was an imperative following the legislative taking of their Tuhoe and Te Whakatohea lands. These matters surfaced often, a link to land grievances and the economic devastation of Tuhoe and Te Whakatohea whanau and hapu. In that frame, kumara was also a symbol of survival.

Gardens. Lots and lots of gardens. Extensive gardens for just three people, two of them elderly and the third, a kid.

Wairemana sat in the dust moving around on her hands and knees from one spot to the next, working from dawn to dusk. They seemed to live for those gardens and their annual yields of kumara, potatoes, kamokamo, watermelons and rock melons, sugar cane, maize, onions and tobacco. Puha seed was scattered around the perimeter of the gardens amongst the kamokamo. There was even greater responsibility to ensure the preservation of mauri (the life essence) in all things and the food planted and harvested.

The mauri was embodied in the seeds and in places where food was obtained. In these, the mauri of the land must be protected from abuse or over use and was applied by them not only to kumara but all other food bearing resources. It was a natural way of life for them.

Wairemana would remind me, “Kaua e tukinotia te whenua.” Do not take the land and its natural gifts for granted.

In the case of kumara, the part that was eaten was accepted for the body (tinana), but the mauri, that is its spiritual substance (wairua) needed protection through karakia and by being mindful of its importance to life. With such a noble lineage, no wonder kumara had a life of its own.

Back breaking work. A shovel was modified into a heavy hoe with the blade bent, and used to break down clumpy, lumpy turf into fine malleable soil.

Weeds. Everywhere weeds. Wairemana was especially attentive to her patch of watermelons and rock melons. She tended the gardens well and occasionally I helped with watering the tender shoots. She sang lullabies and fondled the plants as friends.

We lived close to nature’s lushness with the bush behind us and the sea in front. To one side there were the streams and extensive swamps with their seasonal offerings of kopururpuru, eels, weka, raupo and flax. On the other side the stretches of mudflats in the harbour, a constant source for flounders, herrings and the muddy titiko (periwinkles). Besides it provisions of medicines, the bush at the back yielded timber, kiekie and dyes, and as well the delicious harore, a fungus which grew best on rotted logs, teure a very sweet pine-apple shaped fruit found in the centres of the kiekie. Then there was pikopiko, the delicious curly fern fronds. Berries as well …

Kei runga

Kei runga ko Ranginui

Kei raro ko Papatuanuku

Kei mua ko te moana

Kei muri ko te ngahere

Kei tena taha

Ko nga awaawa

Kei tera taha

Ko te puna wai

Ko nga repo

Kei konei

Ko nga momo oranga

Katoa

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Part 2 of this series by Haare, recounting early experiences with traditional Maori food is to follow on another post soon …

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Related:

Maori Dictionary Online
Kumara to KFC – How Maori eating habits have changed
Kaipara Kumara

I love my friend Nanci’s paintings. Here’s one inspired by a photo in an Italian cook-book. It makes me feel warm all over – just as though I’d had a sip or two of that grappa!

The Italians sure know how to eat well – and stay fit and slim. No shovelling mediocre cake and ice-cream for them! This wonderful painting depicts a perfect Italian dessert – a perfectly ripe pear, some crunchy almond biscotti (full of healthy unsaturated fat) and a little sweet, fruity alcohol made from grape skins, stems and seeds. Enjoy!

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Rewena Bread

2 c flour
1 tsp sugar
3 slices potato

Boil potato slices in 1 cup water to mashing consistency. Cool and when luke warm mix all ingredients to a firm texture. Cover and let rise.

Take 1 tablespoon of the dough and put into a large Agee jar. Feed one day with ½ cup warm potato water and next day with 1 teaspoon sugar.

5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
Mix flour, salt and soda. Pour in rewena (keep a bit for next time) and mix. Add more water if necessary. Knead 10 mins.
Put in greased dish and let rise to double.
Bake at 150-180C for 1 hour.

For more on making Rewena see:

My rewena trial and error tryout [disaster!]

Results of my attempts to make a nutritious rewena bread

Curious Kai

Everything2

You may have seen the movie “Once Were Warriors”. Well the Maori people were not just warriors they also ‘once were gardeners’! Before the Europeans arrived they worked hard cultivating kumara – a delicious purple root vegetable with sweet golden flesh. Kumara was their main carbohydrate source, along with ferns, kanga wai (fermented corn) and other native plants. They had a diet high in protein from birds and fish, low in fat and low in carbohydrate. This was especially so over summer when the last year’s kumara stores ran low and the people had little to eat. Everyone would hang out for Potuterangi – the star that appeared in March and told them that they could eat the first kumara.

In less than 100 years we’ve gone from gardening to driving, and from kumara to KFC! It’s no wonder that our Maori people die younger than Europeans and even our children are getting Type 2 diabetes – once only seen in older people. All those cheap chips, pies, fried bread and fatty meat is the exact opposite of what the Maori of a few generations ago ate. This food flip has happened in many people but it is especially tragic to see the drastic change in health of a once lean, muscular, fit people in such a short time.

The colonising of New Zealand, as in all countries, brought good and bad. The bad was the decimation of Maori land, mana, wealth, and subsequently health. Many Maori still carry the hurt of the injustices of the past and, like any emotional wound, it often affects physical health and habits. How do we get past this?  Acknowledge what’s happened. If you are European, ask Maori for forgiveness on behalf of the earlier generations. If you are Maori, forgive. This breaks the bonds that tie you to past hurts so you are free to move forward. Then together, as Kiwis, we can restore health – not just through nutrition knowledge but also through re-building confidence and self esteem.

“A heart at peace gives life to the body”

Related post: Recollections of Maori food