Opinion: In today’s world, there’s a time and place for rongoā

In our world today, there's a time and place to use rongoā, writes DJ Kireka. Photo / Supplied

OPINION:

“Ko te kai he rongoā, ko te rongoā he kai - Food is medicine, medicine is food.”

Rongoā is traditional Māori medicine – a system of healing that is passed on orally. It comprises diverse practices and an emphasis on the spiritual dimension of health.

Rongoā includes herbal remedies, physical therapies such as massage and manipulation, and spiritual healing.

Rongoā was the natural way of healing ourselves in times of old, but today we are dealing with many unfamiliar diseases.

The key is identifying what the sickness is and using the appropriate medicine or rongoā to heal ourselves.

Māori and alternative remedies have few side effects when prepared and administered correctly.

In our world today, there’s a time and place to learn, know and use rongoā.

I personally prefer natural remedies, but I have learned that there are times where pharmaceutical medicine is the best cure for modern illnesses.

When we were younger, we ate more natural foods. But with chemicals added to our environment, and more processed foods, our bodies can struggle to fight off diseases.

I learned to heal myself when I met my husband and our Te Rau Aroha whānau in 1982 while we lived communally in Haumoana. We were vegetarians, seeking our reo in tikanga Māori.

We had our own Siddha yoga meditation centre, and we learned from Denise Helmbright, a herbalist, iridologist, and reflexologist who knew natural herbal remedies. She taught us how to make rongoā and apply it through mirimiri [massage]. Denise was such a blessing at the time. Through her, many of us learned this wonderful skill and we can now make our own rongoā.

A few rongoā recipes:

Harakeke/Flax: The leaf or root is pulped, heated and put straight onto boils.

Kowhai: The bark is heated in a calabash with hot stones, and made into poultice for wounds, or to rub on a sore back. A person bitten in the face by a seal had wai kowhai [kowhai juice] applied to their wounds and was well within days.

Kūmarahou: The leaves are boiled and used as a soothing and healing agent. The juice of the leaves is also used in baths. Drinking the liquid in which the leaves have been boiled is said to be good for rheumatism and asthma.

Kawakawa: The leaf and bark are used to heal cuts, wounds and stomach pains. For a toothache, a kawakawa poultice is applied or the leaves are chewed. The leaf and bark are a remedy for stomach ache and the root is chewed for dysentery.