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It is a practice that has never stopped - Maori going quietly to healers for illnesses which they believe cannot be explained by Western medicine.
Then there is makutu, which many Maori believe are deliberately placed curses to harm people.
It is also believed they cause a type of mate Maori, or Maori illness.
Makutu was in the spotlight this week after police upgraded an investigation into Janet Moses' death to homicide.
The 22-year-old mother of two from Wainuiomata died on October 12 after drowning at a relative's home. It has been reported that a curse made Ms Moses ill and some members of her family believed a stolen object was the cause of the sickness.
What is not in dispute is that a ceremony took place involving so much water that floorboards became dangerous to walk on and carpet was saturated.
David Rankin's whanau from Ngapuhi still adheres to the old ways. Nga Kahi is a sect that advised Hone Heke's descendants, of which Mr Rankin is one.
According to their belief water and simple karakia or prayer are used to cleanse a person by submerging him or her in water. But the process is a gentle one, and could be accomplished in a river.
Traditionally tohunga - people skilled in Maori medication - directed the process.
Mr Rankin said if someone had a spiritual issue there was usually a knock at the door. "People come quietly, say 'hey, we've got a raruraru [problem]'. It's not advertised."
But he warned that people should be wary as many exaggerated their claims to be practitioners. "I think the more people say 'I'm a tohunga', the more you know they're not."
He says it's a dying practice, a consequence of colonisation.
Historian Paul Moon worked closely with Tuhoe tohunga Hohepa Kereopa. Together they wrote three books before Mr Kereopa's death this year.
Using water to cleanse or to excommunicate spirits came from a Western tradition brought by missionaries to New Zealand, Dr Moon said.
Anglican Archdeacon Hone Kaa has been involved in makutu-lifting ceremonies. He is an example of spiritual duality - believing in Christianity and older beliefs.
"There's no conflict in my being Maori and my being Christian. We still hold vestiges of the old world attached to us."
