He aha ia te rongoā?
Kapi ai i te kupu rongoā ngā tikanga whakaora mate a te Māori, he mea tuku iho i tēnā whakatupuranga, i tēnā whakatupuranga. He tikanga mō tēnā rongoā, he tikanga mō tēnā rongoā. He nui te wāhi ki te taha wairua i roto i te hauora Māori. Ko ētahi rongoā ka tīkina i te taiao, i ngā tipu, i ngā otaota, i ngā rākau, ko ētahi mahi pēnei i te mirimiri ka pā ki te tinana. He nui te taha wairua i te rongoā.
Kei ngā tohunga ahurewa ngā kawenga o ngā rongoā, tae atu ki te taha wairua.
Te rongoā i mua i te taenga o te Pākehā
Nō te ūnga o tauiwi ki Aotearoa, i te pakari ngā tikanga whakaora mate a te Māori. He nui ngā taunakitanga ka tohu ki te mōhio a ngā Māori onamata ki te tinana o te tangata – te mahi a tēnā wāhanga, a tēnā wāhanga, ngā tohu mō te ora me te paheketanga, tae atu hoki ki ngā rongoā kei roto i tēnā tipu, i tēnā rākau, i tēnā otaota.
Hei aha te tākuta
I te rau tau 1700, ka kite te tohunga pūtaiao a Joseph Banks i te pakari o te hauora o te Māori me te ruarua o ngā mate i waenganui i a rātou:
‘Nā te tika o te kai me te āta kai i pakari ai te hauora, ā, e tino manaakitia ana rātou e te oranga nuitanga….Kāore au i kite i tētahi e whakatakariri ana mō te kore noa iho… Nā te ora o te mauri kāore he tākuta.’ 1
Te hauora o te Māori i te rau tau 1700
I te taenga o te Pākehā ki Aotearoa, ko te tau toharite ka mate te tangata Māori ko te 30 tau, nā te aha, nā ngā mate ka pā i ngā niho ka pirau haere. Heoi, i tua atu i tēnei, he pakari te hauora, ā, ruarua noa ngā tahumaero. E ai ki a Joseph Banks, te tohunga pūtaiao i te taha o Kāpene Kuki, ‘kāore he iwi pakari atu i te Māori’. 2
Ngā rākau rongoā
Kotahi anake te mahinga rongoā mai te tipu ka kite a Kuki, arā, ko te tipu he mea koromāhu. Ka whakawera he kōhatu, ka ūhia ki ngā tipu, kātahi ka taupoki ki te whāriki. I konei ka nōhia e te wahine. Ko te whakapae a Kuki, ‘ka puta te rongoā i te koromāhu.’
I te tau 1824 ka tuhi a René Lesson o Wīwī mō te rongoā Māori, ‘ka inu te Māori i te wai o ngā tipu, kīia ai e rātou he rongoā…Kīia ai ngā tohunga mahi rongoā he “tangata rongoā”.’ 4
Rongoā – he mea tawhito he mea hou rānei
Nā ngā tuhinga a Kāpene Kuki mō te ora o te Māori, te kore o ngā momo tahumaero me te mahinga o ngā rongoā, ka whakapae ētahi nō muri rawa i te taenga o te Pākehā ka kaha haere te whāwhā a te Māori ki ngā tipu hei rongoā.
Te taha wairua
I ngā rā o mua ko te whakapae ka ahu mai ngā mate i te taha wairua. E ai ki te Māori, ko ia te kaitiaki o te ao tūroa, ā, ka noho tahi ia me te taiao. Hāunga te titiro ki te mate anō he mate ā-tinana, ka titiro kē te Māori ki te mate anō he take wairua.
E rua ngā momo o te mate, ko te mate atua, ko te mate tangata. Ko te mate atua ka pā mai nā te takahi i te tapu – hei tauira, te tango kai i tētahi wāhi i mate he tangata, te whati peka mai i te rākau whakairi tūpāpaku mō te ahi tunu kai.
