Taranaki iwi harvested two tonnes of potatoes to koha groups staying at local marae for the national kapa haka festival at the end of the month.
Locals made the decision six months ago to grow Agria potatoes on the old, 'boggy,' Pungarehu Primary school rugby field in South Taranaki.
Māra Kai expert Pounamu Skelton said it was just 'tikanga' to provide for manuhiri (visitors).
"We're hosting the whole of Aotearoa for Te Matatini, hundreds of whānau are coming, and part of our tikanga is to manaaki the whānau."
The taewa (potatoes) from Taranaki iwi and other kai such as Ngāti Maru honey (which was bottled on the same day as the potato harvest), meat from ANZCO Foods, Fonterra dairy products, and ika (fish) caught by local fishermen will be distributed to over 20 marae around Taranaki maunga during Te Matatini o te Kāhui Maunga.
Skelton runs her own māra (garden) on her Tikorangi lifestyle block teaching the importance of growing your own kai, but her focus shifted to working with her iwi, as well as the eight iwi in Taranaki, to prepare for Te Matatini o te Kāhui Maunga.
"It's an act of like kōtahitanga, it's mahi tahi, we're working collaboratively, and we're all in this together," Skelton said.
Sorting the good taewa from the bad. Photo: RNZ / Emma Andrews
"I feel like the maunga is leading the way. If we can be as slightly as strong and as resilient as Taranaki Maunga, then hey, this is just an easy day at mahi really, harvesting a tonne of potatoes."
The history of the whenua
Rawinia Leatherby-Toia grew up in the Pungarehu-Rāhotu area. She said the Pungarehu school was the 'hub of the community' where a lot of Parihaka elders attended.
"It was a bustling little school back in the day, when the Kiwi factory here was running, there was lots of employment, a lot of families lived around here, we would come here for calf day, and different gala says, it was just a big buzz."
When the school closed in 2003, the building was eventually demolished, and the land on both sides of Cape Road was left as gravel and vegetation.
And for the first time since, the rugby paddock across the road was utilized as a māra.
"Now our iwi, Taranaki iwi, well, our people are deciding that we want to grow kai, distribute kai, share kai, feed the hungry people, feed the hungry whānau ... whoever they are."
It has been special for Leatherby-Toia to be working on whenua that holds dear memories for her.
"When you're in the garden, here or anywhere, you're connecting to whenua, you're connecting to Tohu and Te Whiti, and the legacies of being peaceful, being resilient."
Tohu Kākahi and Te Whiti-o-Rongomai were the leaders of the Parihaka settlement, they were arrested, peacefully holding their ground, during the 1881 pāhuatanga or raid on the settlement.
"They ploughed the land and then when they were approached, or they were attacked, they just stood still in peace and in resistance because all they were doing was growing food for their community."
Urs Signer ploughing a row of potatoes Photo: RNZ / Emma Andrews
"That's what our ancestors did back in the day, and this is what we're doing right now," Leatherby-Toia said.
'Kai is political'
Before each of the 32 rows of potatoes were ploughed, Urs Signer would call 'Paraukau' in which the others would respond 'tū kau!'
"We think of kōrero like Paraukau tū kau from Parihaka. We think of kōrero like opehia taewatia te tangata when people were arrested at Parihaka in 1881 and chucked onto carts like sacks of potatoes," Signer said.
"So, for us, this is very much a political mahi, as well as it's important to feed the people."
Parau is a transliteration for ploughing. Kau, in this case, oxen were used by tūpuna of Taranaki to plough the land. Tū kau meaning to stand like an ox.
"Paraukau tū kau is one of those chants from those days that's still here today in the māra."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
