Restoring Māori Kai Systems

Restoring Māori Kai Systems

This Learning Bite explores our traditional kai systems in te ao Māori and the importance of the intergenerational mātauranga that they carry. Colonisation may have profoundly impacted how we interact with kai, but reclaiming and restoring the kai practices and mātauranga of our tīpuna is essential for building mana motuhake and to address today's kai, health, climate, biodiversity, soil, and energy crises.

In collaboration with Dr. Jessica Hutchings & Papawhakaritorito Trust

Instructions

These Learning Bites are short, self-paced online learning modules designed to be accessible, practical and grounded in kaupapa Māori values.Each ‘bite’ takes around 10–15 minutes and can be completed in your own time. Please enter your responses in the text boxes provided.

To finish, make sure you click

Complete Learning Bite

on the very last slide!

Kai Systems of our Tīpuna

Interconnected whakapapa

Balance and reciprocity

Based on local tikanga

Photo of a kōtiro at Te Ariki Pā, near Lake TaraweraSource: Te Papa

This photograph by Charles Peet Dawes, taken probably in the early twentieth century, shows whare nestled in bedside a stand of trees, with a garden in front. Source: Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 1572-1407

Charles Dawes Peet, 1900-1909, Source: Kura Heritage Collections Online.

Kai in Abundance

Tīpuna established thriving kai systems Informed by relationships with their local taiao Large māra and pātaka kai show abundance

Idealised sketch of a kāinga, including māra Source: Te Ara

Māori vegetable garden, 1700sSource: Te Ara

Pātaka Kai, 1842 Source: Te Ara

Ngawini Hetaraka and Ngahuia Hetaraka sitting next to a pile of kūmara, Awanui. Source: National Library of New Zealand

Dried eels on pātaka-tuna, Raukawa Marae, Ōtaki. Source: National Library of New Zealand

Colonialism

Capitalism

_______ the whenua

________ whenua into a commodity

• Removed Māori from whenua
• Disrupted Māori kai systems, sovereignty, and security
• Introduced systems of extraction and exploitation for British Empire

• Transformed whenua, wai, ngāhere, kai into tradeable goods
• Expanded systems of extraction and exploitation for global market

Drag and drop the correct kupu to the blank spaces above

took

turned

Deforestation and Colonialism

Loss of ngāhere aligns with colonisation of Aotearoa

Forest cover of Aotearoa (New Zealand), 1840-present day. Source: Decolonial Atlas

Māori Land Holdings Source: Te Ara

90% of Wetlands Drained

Converted into agricultural land Tuna and manu kai sources depleted Wetland biodiversity diminished

Draining Of The 'Rangitaiki Swamp', Bay Of Plenty Source: Auckland Libraries

Agricultural Colonisation

Click Here!

Deforested whenua used to graze sheep in Tāmaki Makaurau, Te Ika-a-Māui (left) and Slope Point, Te Waipounamu (right) Source: Para Kore Kaimahi

Adapting to Survive

Tīpuna learned to grow and raise new crops and animals

Incorporating new methods of farming and gardening

Establishing and engaging in trading networks

Māori traders taking pigs to Auckland. Drawing by Albert Barracks, 1849. Image: Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections.

Bringing Back Tīpuna Kai Practices

Growing māra kai

Saving and sharing seeds

Prioritising collective health over profit in decision-making

Whānau Growing Kai in Te Whānau ā Apanui

Investing time, energy and resources into social and environmental kaupapa

Tauutuutu

Ancestral systems and practices based on reciprocity and balance with te taiao and between communities

Māori feasts and ceremonial eating – hākari Source: Te Ara

Upholds respect and manaakitangaWay of managing social relationshipsStrengthens over time and generations

Tauutuutu – Practical Examples

Growing and sharing kaiSaving and sharing seedsReturning para kai to the whenua

Growing and Foraging Kai

Local and organic kai Tautoko native biodiversity Avoid genetically modified crops (GMOs) Disconnect from industrial kai system Reconnect with kai practices of tīpuna

Papatūānuku Kōkiri Marae, Tāmaki Makaurau

Stepping into Rangatiratanga

Here are some examples of whānau taking action to reclaim our kai systems – take a look!

Watch this kōrero 'Seeds of Unity', which is dedicated to sharing the strength of Indigenous wāhine around the world, rebuilding their Indigenous foodways one kākano (seed) at a time.

What Did We Learn Today?

Reclaiming ancestral kai systems and practices is essential for protecting our whakapapa and future generations. What practical actions can we take to reclaim our kai systems?

• Growing and sharing kai and seeds
• Learning about the kai systems and practices of our tīpuna
• Returning para kai to the whenua

He aha ōu whakaaro?

Please share any thoughts, comments, and feedback you have on this Learning Bite. Let us know what you liked and what we can improve!

Complete Learning Bite

The many impacts of agriculture include: - Turning Aotearoa into food basket for empire - Stress on our taiao: more than 90% of the kai produced from our soils, lands and waters is exported overseas (mostly milk solids and beef) - Massive greenhouse gas emissions: making up half of NZ's total emissions - Degraded and polluted waterways: some of the worst in the developed world (more than 80% are of substandard quality) - Biodiversity: 4000 native species threatened or at-risk