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Healing our Whenua
A lifetime of learning and a yearning to bring people together led Pā Ropata to start Tīwaiwaka - a set of six key principles and a collective of people committed to restoring the mauri (lifeforce) of the whenua (land).
A lifetime of learning and a yearning to bring people together led Pā Ropata to start Tīwaiwaka - a set of six key principles and a collective of people committed to restoring the mauri (lifeforce) of the whenua (land).
Down an unassuming gravel driveway in rural Bay of Plenty, a native rongoā (medicinal) ngahere (forest) is being cared for by Pā Ropata. It’s hard to believe that just 20 years ago, this same land was a retired dairy farm with little biodiversity and bereft of native understorey.
Robert McGowan, fondly known to most as Pā after being gifted the moniker by a Māori elder, is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s leading rongoā Māori experts. He lives with his wife, daughter and Sable the dog, surrounded by native bush that he sourced from seed and has nurtured ever since, which is increasingly loud with bird song.
“I just love plants. I’m fascinated by them and I love learning from them,” he says as he shows Our Place what initially appears to be four completely different shrubs, but are all Coprosma acerosa grown from seed collected in four very different locations - Desert Road, Chatham Islands, Mahia and Matakana Island.
“Just like people, plants adapt to different environments.”
Just a few metres away from the whare (house) and experimental nursery, there’s a quiet spot under a canopy of kauri perfect for karakia and wananga.
“Karakia is about clearing your mind of all the busyness. It’s about taking a deep breath, putting all that aside, focusing on listening to the stillness of a place and the openness that comes from that,” says Pā.
“This place captures people. This is where I work with people who will one day continue our mahi. I’m not as young as I was and I’m not going to last forever. It’s important to inspire a new generation of people to share the tools”.
Pā is decorated in his field, and his honours include a Queen’s Service Medal, a University of Waikato Medal and the Te Papa Atawhai (DOC) Loder Cup Award. He’s at the forefront of many local and national conservation efforts, the patron of Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust, and co-founder of Tane’s Tree Trust, and yet, he never uses the words “I” or “me”.
“It’s always us,” he says, “we’re all part of a whānau and connected. When you speak, you’re really just a face for the people who have come before you. And the only time that you should use “me” is when you do something selfish. And I try not to do anything selfish”.
Despite his wealth of knowledge, a kōrero with Pā is effortless and there is no personal hierarchy, regardless of the topic. His approachability and kindness was evident during our hui over a kaputī (cup of tea) and biscuits, when Kaewa - one of Pā’s students - popped by to collect harakeke (native flax) for her raranga (weaving) class. Instead of rushing off, she saw cars in the driveway and sat down to join us.
Bringing together a lifetime of learning, and a yearning for people to work better together, Pā started Tīwaiwaka - a set of six key principles and a collective of people committed to restoring the mauri (lifeforce) of the whenua (land). These principles are: 1. Te Whenua is the priority, 2. We are not the centre of the universe but we are part of it, 3. The mauri is the web of connections that sustains life, 4. Te tāngata, people, are not the masters of the mauri; we are part of it, 5. No individual is more important than any other, and 6. We give special care to the tiniest living creatures.
“Tīwaiwaka really came out of the fact that we can hear the whenua crying and how desperate it is for healing. There’s so many people doing their own thing but not listening to each other. We needed something to weave us together. And that’s what these principles do.
“The only way we can effectively restore the whenua is to have everyone on the waka - the richest, the poorest, the people who live rurally and the city dwellers… everyone. We need to come together as one voice of hope and positive energy.”
“When we work together we can achieve much more than each of us can individually”.
An example of Tīwaiwaka in action is Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust (MKMT), a proudly co-governed Trust of which Pā is patron. MKMT is restoring the mauri of the Kaimai Mamaku ngahere and its catchments through shared knowledge and collective action. They currently fund 10 iwi-hāpu led pest-control projects in the ngahere.
“The work of the Trust and our project teams is a real-world demonstration of Tīwaiwaka principles in action,” MKMT CEO, Louise Saunders, says.
“The Kaimai Mamaku Restoration Project is a collective of kaitiaki working towards restoring the mauri of the whenua. The restoration includes the health of everything from insects, seedlings, birds, trees, soil and water, through to the wellbeing and connectedness of our people and communities.
“Pā is not only our patron, he’s our teacher, mentor and our project ‘compass’”.
While MKMT and the Tīwaiwaka principles are only in their infancy - both started in 2019 - Pā’s experience is anything but.
“My love of rongoā started way back. My mum grew up in the bush and had that knowledge,” he reminisces.
“Then, just after I started school my kaumatua took us into the ngahere and gave us a bit of nīkau to eat. We called it the ‘millionaire’s salad’ because you have to kill the tree to get the pith right in the middle. I’ll never forget that experience”.
In ‘74, as a young priest, Pā went to the Whanganui River to learn about propagating and growing native plants, and their traditional uses under the guidance of kaumātua and kuia.
“When I went back to Whanganui to share Tīwaiwaka with them they said, ‘we already know, we’ve been trying to tell you for years!’”
After progress was stalled by the pandemic, Tīwaiwaka is building momentum and recently ticked over 10,000 copies sold nationwide. Pā compares this to a tree - starting as small as a seed and now growing and beginning to stand tall.
In mid-May, a group of 30 people, all hand-chosen by Pā to represent different corners of society, came together to kōrero and connect.
“The only way we can effectively restore the whenua is to have everyone on the waka - the richest, the poorest, the people who live rurally and the city dwellers… everyone. We need to come together as one voice of hope and positive energy,” he says.
While Pā isn’t Māori himself, he bows his head to the tino rangatiratanga and kaitiaki that have been here before him, and will come after him.
“When you’re young, you don’t want to listen to anybody. When you get older you start taking notice of older people. Migrants do the same. We come to a place and assume we know it all. Then our confidence gets knocked a bit because we ruin a few things. And then, we start listening to those that were here before.
“That’s what’s happening now - we [pākehā] are learning to listen to those that have always been here”.
mkm.org.nz
kaimai-mamaku.org.nz
tīwaiwaka.nz
