🌿 Rongoā Māori: Ancient Healing Wisdom of Aotearoa

A natural, grounded guide to the plants, stories, and healing traditions of Māori culture

For Māori, healing has never been just about the body. It’s about balance — between people and land, between the physical and the spiritual, between the seen and the unseen. This way of understanding wellbeing is known as rongoā Māori, and it has shaped the lives of Māori communities for centuries.

Today, as more people look for natural and culturally rooted ways to support their health, rongoā is experiencing a powerful revival. This article brings together the stories, plants, and philosophies behind this healing tradition in a way that honours its depth and mana.

🌱 What Rongoā Māori Really Means

Rongoā Māori is a whole system of healing. It includes:

• Plant medicine (rongoā rākau)
• Massage and bodywork (mirimiri and romiromi)
• Spiritual healing, karakia, and clearing

It’s not just about treating symptoms. It’s about restoring harmony — within a person, within their whānau, and with the whenua that sustains them. Illness is seen as a sign that something in that web of relationships has shifted out of balance.

Tohunga — the highly trained experts of old — carried this knowledge. They were healers, teachers, spiritual leaders, and guardians of cultural wisdom.

🌿 Before Europeans Arrived

Long before Western medicine reached Aotearoa, Māori had developed a sophisticated understanding of the body and the natural world. They knew which plants soothed inflammation, which eased digestion, which supported healing after injury. They understood anatomy, the effects of heat and pressure, and the importance of spiritual wellbeing.

Early European visitors often commented on how strong and healthy Māori were. Their lifestyle — active, outdoors, seasonal, and deeply connected to the land — supported resilience.

🌬️ Two Kinds of Illness: Mate Atua and Mate Tangata

Traditional Māori healing recognised two broad types of illness:

Mate atua — illnesses with a spiritual cause

These were linked to breaking tapu, disturbing sacred places, or encountering harmful spiritual forces. The symptoms might look physical, but the root cause was spiritual.

Mate tangata — illnesses with a physical cause

These were treated with plant medicine, massage, heat, and practical techniques.

Understanding the difference was essential. A physical remedy wouldn’t help a spiritual problem, and vice versa.

✨ When Illness Was Spiritual

If someone fell ill in a way that suggested mate atua, a tohunga would begin by listening — to the person’s story, their dreams, their recent experiences, and any emotional or spiritual disturbances.

Dreams were especially important. They were seen as messages from ancestors or signs of imbalance.

Once the cause was understood, the tohunga would guide the person through rituals to restore harmony. These might include:

• Whakahoro, a cleansing ritual using water
• Takutaku, where a leaf touched to the patient was floated downstream to carry away the harmful influence
• Mariunga, using a carved wand to read the patient’s spiritual state

Healing was as much about restoring connection as it was about removing illness.

🌿 When Illness Was Physical

Mate tangata was treated with practical, hands‑on methods. Māori healers used:

• poultices for boils and infections
• steam baths for congestion
• heat for menstrual pain and childbirth
• plant sap for wounds
• splints made from bark and flax
• cauterising techniques for deep cuts
• blood‑letting for headaches or pressure

These treatments were often accompanied by karakia to support the person’s mauri (life force).

One well‑known story tells of All Black legend George Nēpia, who recovered from a serious leg injury using rongoā when doctors believed his career was over. Within two weeks, he was back on the field.

🌿 The Forest as a Pharmacy: Key Medicinal Plants

🌑 The Impact of Colonisation

European arrival brought enormous change. New diseases swept through Māori communities, and traditional healers had limited tools to treat them. Although Western medicine was also limited at the time, the visible failure of tohunga shook Māori confidence.

Missionaries often claimed disease spread because Māori lacked Christian faith. Many Māori converted, and the sacred whare wānanga — where tohunga were trained — began to close.

✝️ Mary Joseph Aubert: A Bridge Between Worlds

Sister Mary Joseph Aubert, a French Catholic nun, lived among Māori and learned their plant knowledge. She blended rongoā with Western herbalism and created remedies sold across the country. Her work represents one of the earliest collaborations between Māori and Western healing traditions.

⚠️ The Tohunga Suppression Act

As traditional training declined, untrained healers began travelling between communities, claiming to cure all illnesses. Their practices alarmed both Māori and Pākehā leaders.

In 1907, the Tohunga Suppression Act was passed. Although intended to stop fraudulent healers, it had devastating consequences:

• legitimate tohunga were driven underground
• traditional knowledge transmission was disrupted
• Māori authority over healing was undermined

Many see the Act as a breach of the Treaty of Waitangi. It was repealed in 1962.

🌞 Rongoā Today: A Cultural Reawakening

From the late 20th century onward, rongoā Māori has experienced a powerful revival. This resurgence has been driven by:

• renewed pride in Māori identity
• ongoing health inequities
• barriers to accessing mainstream healthcare
• a desire for healing that includes spirituality

Many Māori use both Western medicine and rongoā, especially for illnesses seen as mate Māori — conditions with a spiritual or cultural dimension.

🌿 Modern Healers

Today’s healers come from diverse backgrounds. Their training varies, but many share common threads:

• deep respect for tikanga
• use of wai rākau (plant medicines)
• emphasis on wairua
• connection to whānau and whenua

Some work in clinics, some on marae, and some alongside mainstream health professionals.

🤝 Ngā Ringa Whakahaere o te Iwi Māori

Founded in 1993, this national body represents Māori healers and works to protect, promote, and sustain traditional healing practices.

🌿 A Living Tradition

Rongoā Māori is not a relic of the past. It is a living, evolving expression of Māori identity, resilience, and connection to the natural world. From the healing power of kawakawa to the spiritual depth of mate atua, rongoā continues to guide people toward balance and wellbeing.

As interest grows in natural and holistic healing, rongoā stands as a reminder that true wellness is not just physical — it is emotional, spiritual, cultural, and ecological.

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