What’s your favourite native plant, and why?
My favourite native plant is kawakawa. One day, way back in the 90s I followed an aroma for about two to three kilometres, and it took me to a cleft where I saw all these tui and kererū, all feeding from native fruits. Amongst all these native plants, were a whole lot of kawakawa. I didn’t know what they were – I didn’t know what kawakawa was back then – or that aroma that I followed. I observed all these birds feeding from the kawakawa fruit. Once they fed they’d either sing or fly back out and flip, and dive back down. They were just enjoying the fruits of nature and so that really sort of captured me; following the aroma, and seeing how the birds and insects appreciated the fruits of the kawakawa. I observed all this going on for a while, and I just started picking and harvesting the kawakawa, not knowing what I was doing, but I felt that was the right thing to do; I was following my intuition and my gut feeling about this plant. I harvested a whole lot not knowing what I was going to do with it! At that time I was having a lot of spiritual experiences up there in the mountains and by the sea, but that was one of the things that captured my attention and has stayed with me.

The kawakawa plant, over time I’ve learnt its whakapapa. It was given as a gift to Papatuanuku, from the separation from Ao, the great spirit. It was a gift to mother earth to heal her emotions. She had lost her husband, she was feeling emotional about that. It was given to her to heal her loss and her sorrow. So it was a plant that also does the same for us. It’s shaped like a heart and heals those sorts of emotions.

It does many things, it heals the blood systems and cleanses the blood system as a tonic. I love to drink it and share it with other people who need it. It helps your stomach and your skin.

The male plant has fruit on it, orange little berries. It’s good for cancer. You can chew on the leaf for a toothache. We also use it as a poultice to draw out poison.

It has a vein system that runs out. It grows in a whanau concept, as grandparents, parents and children down below. It needs shade, and prefers a coastal area. But shy with frost. It’s a plant that can be tender.

It does many things, it heals the blood systems and cleanses the blood system as a tonic. I love to drink it and share it with other people who need it. It helps your stomach and your skin.

The male plant has fruit on it, orange little berries. It’s good for cancer. You can chew on the leaf for a toothache. We also use it as a poultice to draw out poison.

It has a vein system that runs out. It grows in a whanau concept, as grandparents, parents and children down below. It needs shade, and prefers a coastal area. But shy with frost. It’s a plant that can be tender.

To me, it’s a tuakana teina. Tuakana; it’s high up on the ranking for me. We can use it in many forms, and with other plants for Rongoā Māori. I love making it into tea. If I make it as a rongoā, I like to give it once a day and once at night. We can’t take lots of it; like everyone wants to be healed yesterday! We need to work with it gradually and it’ll do its job, what it’s meant to do.

So, kawakawa. Its name, where it comes from. The first kawa goes back to Ao. So in that form, it’s about the laws that Ao has set for us. So we use it for different rituals. In tangihanga they wear it as a crown, as a pare kawakawa, so they can acknowledge the tūpāpaku, the one lying in state, and to be in that realm of the one lying in state. Also, when they welcome people on to the marae they hold the branches in their hands to reflect tane mahuta and tawhirimatea. So it’s about the movement of the leaves and calling people on to the marae. It’s about the movements, it’s reflecting what goes on in the ngahere, the sounds of the bush. So, there are different rituals that we still use today. It’s about recognising it has a kawa and its kawa comes from Ao.