Te Rongoā Māori

Rongoā is the word for remedies that are created from natural plants and trees. This page links to library resources about te Rongoā Māori.

Ritual and medicine

Ritual and medicine are closely related as early Māori believed that disease was attributed to supernatural visitation. Faith was also part of the healing process. Remedies from plants, berries, leaves, bark and roots and were administered by tohunga — a doctor, priest and scholar who maintained the power of tapu.

The Māori calendar, te Maramataka, begins in June (Matariki) and ends in May of the following year. There were only certain times of the year that some of the plants were able to be harvested and used for healing. The art of healing was taught by the healers in the village and matariki was a good time for this wananga (learning).

In his book Māori Healing and Herbal Murdoch Riley states that at the time of European contact Māori were a fit and healthy race with few diseases. Tohunga had medicines and ritual (karakia) for all types of sickness from chilblains and earache to warts and worms.

Common remedies

Remedies often targeted common ailments such as toothache, intestinal problems and skin conditions such as boils, along with cuts, fractures and other injuries.

Harakeke (New Zealand Phormium tenax) was an important Rongoā / medicinal plant to Māori. The roots were roasted on hot stones and macerated into poultice for abscesses and ulcers. The leaves were boiled and used as blood purifier and the root juice applied to wounds as disinfectant. Pia (gum) at the base of the plant was used for treating burns and ringworm.

Toothache was treated by placing a few drops of juice from the root or leaf base into the cavity of the affected tooth or inner ear. Splints for broken bones were made from the leaf base and leaf fibre or strips were used for sewing up a wound. The flower nectar provided a beverage and food sweetener.

Traditional healing methods are still used by some Māori today.

Kawakawa

Riley notes that kawakawa (Macropiper excelsum), or the pepper tree, was a significant plant remedy. The leaves in particular were used to heal cuts and wounds, and were ingredients in steam baths. Chewing the leaves eased the pain of toothache and abdominal distress. Kawakawa was also used to help kidney and bladder ailments. According to Dr Raymond Stark in Māori Herbal Remedies (p37) “knowledgeable” campers throw some leaves on fires as the acrid smoke repels mosquitoes and sandflies.

Library resources

Search our catalogue for Rongoā Maori

Online resources

Hauora - Health

Our Internet Gateway listing of Māori health websites.

Ngā Tipu Whakaoranga: Māori plant use database

Database providing information on traditional uses of New Zealand native plants.

The significance of rengarenga Athropodium cirratum to Māori

An article on the Royal New Zeland of Horticulture website by the late Graham Harris.

Māori medicine Rongoa

Information pages on the Te Papa website.

Māori health provider directory

Health providers listed by the Canterbury District Health Board.

Rongoā - medicinal use of plants

Information from Te Ara, the Encyclopaedia of New Zealand.