In 15 years' time, Tyne Nelson hopes her young children will find a rich and diverse rongoā garden on the slopes of Te Mata Peak.
Tyne Nelson in the rongoā garden on Te Mata Peak holding herbal remedies used in traditional Maori healing. Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Volunteers are in their third season planting the māra and nourishing the soil, returning an old sheep paddock to a place where rongoā Māori - traditional Māori healing - can be practised in an accessible way.
Nelson took Country Life on a stroll along the path, which weaves and dips through stands of harakeke and the long grass shielding the new seedlings from the elements.
"It's a pretty special spot," Nelson said, stopping to nip off the tip of a koromiko plant, a view of the bay stretching out between large clumps of flax.
Offering an easily accessible place to learn about rongoā Māori was one of the aims of the project, Nelson said.
"There's now this real hunger for this knowledge but there is a lack of knowledge-holders in this region," she said.
Her own rongoā learning took place with Rob McGowan, aka Pa Ropata, in the Kaimai ranges.
"In my spare time, after I finished work, I'd have to have enough time to get there, have enough petrol to get there, so I feel like my journey has been slower than it need be just because of that access issue," Nelson said.
"For the most part, we have to really work to reclaim it and to relearn and to reconnect."
Rongoā Māori was more than a system of healing using traditional balms, tinctures and teas - it was a way of living to maintain wellness, Nelson said.
It was about understanding how to live as part of nature and how nature worked "so that we can find wellness by knowing our place within it and having a sense of peace in that."
"Rongoā Māori in general is a really amazing way for people to find their place here in Aotearoa for Māori and Pākehā ... for anybody that feels Aotearoa is their home."
