Story: Daily life in Māori communities – te noho a te hapori

Communal gardens, 18th century

Communal gardens, 18th century

This artist's impression shows a Māori communal garden in the Auckland region before the arrival of Europeans. The two large plots contain kūmara (sweet potatoes) and uwhi (yams), with taro in the lower right and hue (bottle gourds) in the small plots in front. These crops were grown and harvested collectively. Food provision such as growing crops like these occupied most of the daylight hours for Māori in the period before Europeans came to New Zealand. 

Using this item

Penguin Random House
Reference: Helen Leach, 1,000 years of gardening in New Zealand. Wellington: Reed Publishing, 1984
Drawing by Nancy Tichborne

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How to cite this page:

Mark Derby, 'Daily life in Māori communities – te noho a te hapori - Daily life in traditional communities', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/artwork/40893/communal-gardens-18th-century (accessed 18 May 2024)

Story by Mark Derby, published 5 Sep 2013