New Zealand’s Maori renaissance
A significant portion of New Zealand’s identity is rooted in its Maori culture, which is why the Land of the Long White Cloud is serious about respecting and preserving its ancient traditions. Now, a new guard is emerging to promote forgotten aspects of its Indigenous culture, from foraging for native herbs to Maori New Year. And there are concerted efforts throughout the country to reintegrate these customs into daily life, as Rachel Lees discovers.
Canadian Traveller
Chef Charles Royal guides me as we push through the dense forest foliage in search of mushrooms and edible leaves. He tears a small green and red-speckled leaf from a plant growing at the base of a large tree, and hands it to me. “Just have a little bite of this – it’s hot,” Charles says. Just the smallest taste warms my tongue, and he tells me that the horopito is a native pepper that is dried and used to add spice to Maori cooking.
It’s autumn, and the shadowy bushland behind his home on Lake Rotoma, a 45-minute drive from Rotorua on New Zealand’s North Island, is abounding with food – if you know what to look for. Charles, a one-time field cook for the New Zealand Army, former restaurateur and cookbook author, is a keen forager. He assures me there are no dangerous creatures in the bush before setting off to gather more Indigenous ingredients.
Charles now markets wild foods under his Kinaki brand and has become the champion of an Indigenous food renaissance in New Zealand. “I became a member of the international Slow Food movement, and one of their philosophies is if a culture loses its food identity, it’s near impossible to get back,” he tells me. “And I thought, ‘It’s happening to us!’”
Like many Maori customs, foraging had been largely abandoned by the start of the 20th century – a side effect of colonisation, which began when European settlers arrived in Aotearoa (the Maori name for New Zealand) in the mid 1800s. Today, Charles is among a growing number of Maori working to preserve or revive unique aspects of their culture, keen to safeguard this knowledge for future generations. His Kinaki Maori Food Tours are part of the effort, whereby he shows visitors how to forage for the wild herbs and edible ferns that were once at the heart of Indigenous life in New Zealand, as we are doing now.
As we comb through the bush, we gather pikopiko, curled fern shoots used in salads or as a garnish, and kawakawa, a plant with heart-shaped leaves that are dried and made into a medicinal tea, along with several varieties of mushroom.
Like many tasks essential to traditional life, foraging once took place in accordance with Maori astronomy, which blends robust science with astrology and spirituality.
“From planting, harvesting and fishing to building, travelling and celebrating, it was all oriented around the stars,” says Dr. Rangi Matamua, an author and associate professor at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, an 80-minute drive from Rotorua (or Auckland). After leaving Charles's home on a full stomach, I’m keen to learn more about Māori astronomy when I meet with Dr. Rangi at his office the following day.
The academic with the infectious grin wants to revive the practice, and has anavid interest in the cluster of stars known as Matariki (Pleiades). Rising in mid-winter – around May or June – it heralds the beginning of Maori New Year, also known as Matariki. Forgotten for half a century, the first modern-day celebrations took place in Hawkes Bay in 2000. Now, city councils from Auckland to Wellington host month-long festivities to mark the occasion that include public balls, lectures, art exhibitions and fireworks displays.
Dr. Rangi says he hopes these events will eventually incorporate Matariki’s origins and deeper spiritual and cultural meanings. Traditionally, Maori would read the stars, then farewell loved ones who had passed away in the previous 12 months – by wailing and calling out their names – before feasting to celebrate the new year. In June, Dr. Rangi hosted his first traditional Matariki gathering for members of the public. “There is a big difference between studying and living a culture,” he says. “It survives through practice, not study.”
Further to the lessons of Charles and Dr. Rangi I gain a deeper understanding of the culture at Te Puia, a Māori cultural centre set within a geothermal valley in Rotorua. Here, Maori men and women continue customs that began with their Polynesian ancestors, who migrated to New Zealand more than 700 years ago. After a traditional welcome, I am ushered out of the chilly morning and into a warm and intricately carved wooden meeting house. Inside, I receive an initiation into kapa haka, Maori performing arts.
The act of welcoming and offering hospitality to visitors is deeply ingrained in Maori culture, and remains an integral part of life in New Zealand today. The phrase “Kia ora,” which translates literally as “be well or healthy,” is used like “hello” as a standard greeting by many a New Zealander. However, the word that best encapsulates the Maori ethos of treating a guest like kin – and has also entered the New Zealand English lexicon – is whanau, which means “family.”
At Te Puia, the songs that accompany traditional dances are still sung in Maori – and the notion of making visitors feel like part of the family is put into practice when I am invited onstage to join a poi dance. Performed by both women and men, the dancers twirl poi (a ball on a string) in unison, striking the ball on a hand or other body part to create a percussive rhythm.
Said to keep women’s hands flexible for weaving and to foster the strength and co- ordination men needed for battle, the dance now offers insight into a time gone by, but not forgotten. Poi dance has evolved into a form of performance art employed by modern-day fire twirlers, or using LED lights as yet another way ancient Maori tradition continues to blaze on into a new era.
Perhaps everything old really is new again? During my time foraging with Charles, whose Kanaki brand supplies produce to chefs in some of New Zealand’s top restaurants, he told me: “My chefs like these tiny mushrooms because they want something different, especially for their garnishes,” he had said. “If the chefs don’t want them fresh, we grind them down into a powder so they keep for longer. It’s how they used to do it in the old days.”
Yes, it seems the good old days – and some of the unique aspects of Maori culture, which came close to being forgotten – are gaining new ground, and the appreciation they’ve long deserved.
WHEN YOU GO
WHERE TO STAY
Princes Gate Hotel – Rotorua’s oldest – is a storied and character-filled establishment that borders the city’s pretty Government Gardens. Built in 1857, the hotel evokes a timeless elegance throughout its 50 rooms and suites. For something more modern, check in to the 227-room Millenium Hotel Rotorua.
WHERE TO EAT
Atticus Finch is a cool little bistro earning rave reviews for its inventive plates, which include beef brisket and fried haloumi. Or rub shoulders with locals in the line for the buffet at Stratosphere Restaurant. To get there, take the 900-metre-long Skyline cable car ride for a gorgeous view of Rotorua at sunset.
WHAT TO DO
Do not leave without a visit to OGO Rotorua, where the sport known as zorbing was invented by two local brothers in 1997. Basically, you slip inside a giant inflatable ball – with a few litres of water – and roll down a hill. The closest you’ll get to feeling like a sock in a washing machine, this is the definition of hilarity.
This story was originally published in the Fall 2018 issue of Canadian Traveller.