Free rongoā Māori sessions an alternative source of comfort for struggling Hawke’s Bay communities

Manawa Ora whanau (left to right) Rawiri Hirini, Jemma Jeffs, Chrissy Kan, Jolie Davis, Verity Smith, Marty Clamp. Photo / Te Rawhitiroa Bosch

Ten years ago, you would’ve likely had to go to a backyard shed to receive rongoā Māori treatment.

Today the te ao Māori-based spiritual and medical practice has the backing of ACC and is being administered by professionals all over the country.

It’s also being done free in some of Hawke’s Bay’s most flood-devastated communities.

Rongoā is a traditional form of Māori healing. It includes mirimiri (bodywork), rākau rongoā (native flora herbal preparations), karakia (prayer) and more.

It’s been offered as a rehabilitation service by ACC since June 2020. The organisation has since partnered with more than 160 rongoā practitioners across the motu to deliver more than 49,000 rongoā sessions for 6400 kiritaki (clients).

In Hawke’s Bay, ACC has 12 registered rongoā practitioners, who’ve delivered more than 2400 sessions to support 371 kiritaki.

The practice has also been in the spotlight recently after a leading rongoā Māori practitioner said the Crown had “overstepped the mark” in trying to regulate rongoā Māori in the draft of the Therapeutic Products Bill.

The Therapeutic Products Act then passed in July, with Ministry of Health assuring that rongoā would not be regulated, in most cases, except when made for commercial export or commercial wholesale, such as to a large grocery chain or pharmacy franchise.

Manawa Ora Mirimiri and Workshops facilitator Jolie Davis (Ngāti Kuri, Te Rarawa), says she’s seen the impact rongoā can have on some of those who are suffering.

Since March, she and her team have travelled from Wellington to the flood-hit settlement of Ōmahu on a monthly basis, offering services free of charge in partnership with Te Kupenga Hauora Ahuriri.

While the practice is a form of alternative medicine, Davis said it was about emotional support and comfort.

“People were really distraught after what they’ve been through,” she said. “There was a lot of high stress and high anxiety.”

Ōmahu Marae was a pillar within the community during the cyclone response, and Davis said their work allowed those who had been directly and indirectly affected to have access to someone to talk to if they needed it.

Tessa Robin and Te Kupenga Hauora Ahuriri helped spearhead the operation.

“She reached out to us thinking we would probably be too busy. I asked our team to see who would want to go to Hawke’s Bay and quite a few said yes, including one healer who had connections to the community,” Davis said.

Robin said the idea was sparked when she saw Te Whatu Ora offering psychosocial support in the region.

“We recognised that for Māori in particular there was another type of healing that some prefer,” she said.

For many people receiving the treatment, it was their first time.

“Many weren’t sure what to expect. Some thought it may have been just a massage, and some may have thought it was a little more ‘spooky,’ I guess.”

Robin and Davis said the reception from the community - Māori and non-Māori - had been incredible.

Davis says people needed to know that rongoā Māori treatment could be covered by ACC.

Mitchell Hageman joined Hawke’s Bay Today in late January. From his Napier base, he writes regularly on social issues, arts and culture, and the community. He has a particular love for stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.