Everything is related: The Heart of Rongoā Māori

“If modern society is to have a future, what we need above all is a renewed respect for nature and reverence for the life of all created things.” – Jurgen Moltmann

The essence of rongoā Māori — like many other indigenous health practices — lies in restoring health and wellbeing through an unbreakable connection to nature.

The best protection for the health of your whānau is the health of Papatūānuku. Everyone has the right to a healthy life, and with that right comes the responsibility to care for the land that sustains us. Our whakapapa ties us directly to the earth. Whether you believe in a scientific, Christian, or Māori account of creation, at some point we are all of the earth.

Creation Stories as Guides

To understand healing, we look to the creation stories of indigenous peoples.

In te ao Māori, the story of Ranginui and Papatūānuku teaches that we are all related: land, trees, insects, fish, and birds. We share a common ancestry. Just as plants without roots wither and die, cultures that forget their connection stories lose their strength.

Mātauranga Māori reminds us that wellbeing is not born of individualism. Our health depends on the health of the whānau, the iwi, and our kin in the natural world. Rongoā Māori teaches that one cannot be well for long if others in the whānau are unwell.

Lessons from Nature

We depend on each other now more than ever — not just for the basics of life but for the knowledge to live well.

Papatūānuku does not exist for us alone. Every species depends on her. Yet humans often behave like spoiled children, taking more than our share. As Celia Lashlie warned in her final blog post: “let us hope that the rest of us do not leave our run to heal too late.” This is true not only of society, but of our treatment of the natural world.

When we understand the workings of nature, we also understand healing:

• Wetlands and earth filtering water remind us of how kidneys sustain us.
• A tree’s ability to heal its bark teaches us how to heal our skin.
• The diversity of a healthy forest shows us how to restore broken communities.

Many illnesses arise from disconnection — from nature, from one another, from the wisdom encoded in the world around us. We strive for independence, when in truth, our survival depends on interdependence.

Rongoā Māori: More than Medicine

Rongoā Māori is the oldest medical practice of this land. It is both art and science — much more than plant remedies, bodywork, karakia, or modern science. It is a way of being, a living library of ancestral knowledge and wisdom built over generations.

Medicine comes in many forms: kind words, generous hospitality, a sense of belonging, time for reflection, stories that spark hope. These lessons are embedded in tikanga Māori, reminding us that healing is both ordinary and extraordinary.

Revitalising tikanga through rongoā Māori is not optional. It is essential — for the health of our land and the wellbeing of future generations.