Te Maunga
Mana of a mountain
We connect through woven whakapapa to spiritually navigate the lands beneath. Reciting from the ancestor mountain down to the Pa the people call on their spiritual mana.
Whakapapa acknowledges the mountains as spiritual ancestors who are alive.
Sacred providers and protectors to the people the maunga lifeforce is real.
Mountain magic
As children we would slide down the hills thrilling at the speed and strength of our mountain.
Stories were told of our taniwha Pekehaua roaming the mountain bush and caverns as an enemy of Maori.
His spirit returned after death as a guide and talisman for the tribe.
The mountain and the keeper
Ngongotaha mountain with its caverns and bush was a sacred ancestor for Te Arawa.
Stories passed down told of an old tohunga who guarded the mountain's spiritual gateway to the other universe.
Guarded by the old man the way remains hidden except through dream.
Patupairere
Inside our mountain are stories of fairylike people and battles of wit they had with Maori. Many other tribes saw patupairere as trouble makers with magic abilities.​​
Those descendants who lived around Rotorua were known for their white hair and pale skin. ​​
Patupairere practises were more aligned to nature and spirit than our own.​​
Mountain medicine
Plant life and waters are gathered in the bush of the mountain streams and used for both physical and spiritual healing by Maori.
To Maori the environment we live in has spirit that can help or hinder the healing process of the body.
The bigger the mana the more power to heal so being at one with our mountain spirit connects us to our mahi.
Many take special containers to fill and protect the living resources of spirit medicine inside.
Mountain water
All our tupuna streams come down from our mountains or bubble up through the hot pools of Rotorua.
Stream waters bark and leaves gathered up the mountain offered more mana than those closer to their own homes.
Karakia during the picking of natural resources ensured some of the mountain spirit was captured like a medicine.
Tohunga today humble themselves before their mountains to invoke mana and wairua before healing.
