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RNZ News
11 hours ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Power of rongoā Māori: Rangatahi-led project explores health benefits of kūmara vines
Darius Martin-Baker stumbled on the idea while trying to cure a stomach issue. Photo: Supplied Inspired by mātauranga Māori and rongoā, a young entrepreneur is turning kūmara waste into wellness through a groundbreaking new research project. Twenty-one-year-old Darius Martin-Baker (Ngāpuhi, Waimā, Ngāwhā) is the driving force behind the kaupapa. With $70,000 from the Bioresource Processing Alliance, he has partnered with Callaghan Innovation scientists to explore the nutritional potential of kūmara vines - the leafy part of the plant often chucked during harvest. Martin-Baker said the idea for the kaupapa sparked while staying with his older sister - a longtime practitioner of rongoā Māori - when he began digging deeper into traditional plant knowledge in search of a cure for a stomach issue. "I was reading through rongoā books, but I was getting quite hōhā, because I was like 'no koromiko'," he said. "You have a little bit, it stops you from having the runs, but you have too much, it causes it. "I was, like, definitely can't be using that, because if John down the road decides to have three scoops instead of one, I don't want to be blamed for exacerbating any problems." Then he looked up and saw his sister sprouting a kūmara on the windowsill. "I was, like, 'Why? You're not growing it,' and she was like, 'It looks pretty, but also, it's a rongoā.'" "I was, like, 'Is this a tūpuna-aligned moment?'" Darius Martin-Baker began to research the medicinal use of kūmara vines. Photo: Supplied That moment led him into deeper research, where he found a range of references to the medicinal uses of kūmara in old rongoā books. "I was, like, 'Okay, if we know as Māori and our mātauranga that there's positive benefits to eating kūmara, then what does Western science say about it?'" Martin-Baker came across a study from the University of Arkansas, which found kūmara vines contained anti-carcinogenic, anti-cardiovascular disease and anti-diabetic properties. "It was definitely one of those 'cue the angel music and an epiphany pops out' moments." Nearly 200,000 tonnes of kūmara vines go unused each year. Photo: Supplied According to the Bioresource Processing Alliance, nearly 200,000 tonnes of kūmara vines go unused in Aotearoa each year. Martin-Baker's goal is to unlock their potential, and create a product that could support people living with diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer, while also serving as a daily health supplement. "Kūmara vine has been used by tangata whenua, since the plant was first grown in Aotearoa," he said. "This will be the first research project to investigate and hopefully commercialise the health properties of the vine." Callagahan Innovation senior researcher Jolin Morel. Photo: Supplied One of the several scientists helping bring that vision to life is Jolin Morel, a senior researcher at Callaghan Innovation's food processing technology team. "It's great to have someone like [Darius], who is really trying to build on something that's been traditionally used, but isn't really well utilised now," he said. According to Morel, kūmara vines are rich in bioactive compounds, including polyphenols and other phenolic antioxidants, which are associated with anti-inflammatory and disease-fighting properties. "We're looking at how can we create products where these compounds are enriched." They are exploring ways to develop a kūmara vine extract that's high in phenolics - something Morel said, "could be a powerful addition to a protein drink or similar supplement". "We're looking at scalable ways to process them, to make them into shelf-stable products that still retain the good properties of the vine." Morel said, while Callaghan leads the mahi around processing and scale-up, Plant & Food Research is investigating the plant's bioactive compounds - known as phytochemicals - that give the vine its potential health benefits. "There are a few different parts to the project - from creating product concepts to understanding the science behind the rongoā." Most of the vines used so far have been grown in Kaipara. Photo: Supplied / Darius Martin-Baker Martin-Baker said learning under his sister's mātauranga had grounded the kaupapa in tikanga, something he was committed to embedding throughout the entire project, starting from the way the kūmara vines were harvested. "Following tikanga in picking practice is really important, so ensuring that there's alignment with Maramataka, but also just ensuring karakia," he said. "Unfortunately, sometimes the harvest of the rau might not line up with the phase of the moon, so most of the time, it's just about giving karakia to all the different ātua that are in that area." All the kūmara vines gathered so far have been sourced from Kaipara - one of the country's main kūmara-growing rohe. "Acknowledging the hapū and iwi there and doing karakia in those moments" would remain central to the kaupapa, especially when the product enters the formulation and production stage, Martin-Baker said. "Before we get into the actual production of it, doing karakia and following tikanga in that regard is going to be the point of utmost importance." He also hoped that any future website or packaging would honour the whakapapa of the kūmara vine and its wider mātauranga lineage. "I'll ensure that there's acknowledgments to ngā tūpuna o ngā ātua to ensure that those that have come before all of us, that have helped us build up this intergenerational knowledge, are acknowledged for that development and that gift to the rest of us." Darius Martin-Baker has drawn from his Māori and Pākehā roots. Photo: Supplied / Darius Martin-Baker Martin-Baker said the kaupapa felt like a reflection of his own whakapapa. "When it comes to Western sciences supporting rongoā Māori, it's a balance. It's not that one is better than the other, but it's utilising them in a woven manner - like making a kete that holds this product." "Being of Māori and Pākehā descent, it's definitely in my whakapapa to mix those two different parts of me, so it feels like this is not only a way of going about it that is tika and pono, but also, it feels like a little bit of myself." He hoped his journey would inspire more rangatahi Māori to pursue pathways in innovation, science and rongoā. "I want to see more Māori in this space - reclaiming mātauranga, creating solutions and doing it in a way that stays true to who we are." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
1News
30-04-2025
- Health
- 1News
Cancer survivor's decade-long path to wellness: ‘Rongoā Māori saved me'
Tanya Filia (Ngāpuhi, Ngāi Tahu) was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumour more than 10 years ago. When she was told it was terminal she turned to rongoā Māori – traditional Māori healing – a decision that she says saved her life. She shared her story with Leigh-Marama McLachlan on Marae. For Tanya Filia, rongoā Māori has had a life changing impact on her and her whānau. In 2013, she was diagnosed with a brain tumour after she experienced the inability to recall some words and suffered from massive headaches. 'Long story short, ended up in Whangārei Hospital where I had a scan, and they found that I had a grade four glioblastoma brain tumour. My husband showed up and I told him, and we had a massive tangi. I thought about my kōtiro, thought about my pōtiki, Willow, and thought, 'what am I supposed to do with that?' It's devastating. Your whole world ends. It's devastating.' She underwent an intense treatment plan that included surgery to remove most of the mass, followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy – a hard and fast approach she felt pressured to endure. 'No conversation at all about anything else. It was this way, highway, or no way. We're talking 42 treatments of radiation directly to my brain,' she said. Initially she went into remission but in 2015 she was told the cancer was back and it had spread. She was given two months to live. She refused to undergo further chemo and radiation therapy – 'the mask on to my face where they pin you down to give you radiation, I said 'I'm not doing that again'' – opting instead for rongoā Māori, natural therapies and intravenous Vitamin C. Rongoā Māori is a wide-ranging holistic approach, not limited to just medicines. Tanya's rongoā Māori treatment plan, which she continues to follow, includes karakia, mirimiri, tinctures and oils. When asked to describe what happens during a mirimiri session, Tanya explains how it begins with karakia to cleanse and prepare her 'for walking in that space'. 'I go to a place where I walk and speak and talk to my tupuna,' she said. 'So it's not just a massage, like many people assume, it is done in the space of ā-wairua. So it's good for my wairua, it's good for my hinengaro, and absolutely it is beautiful for my tinana.' Rongoā Māori is undergoing a resurgence. In 2023, the failed Therapeutics Products Bill drew criticism from practitioners and whānau for its impact on rongoā Māori. Since 2020, ACC has recognised the traditional Māori healing practice and offer rongoā as a recovery option. Thousands of people have claimed for rongoā services since. Speaking as part of a discussion panel following Tanya's story, Eldon Paea (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou), head of Māori health partnerships at ACC, said they work closely with the rongoā community and have an advisory panel to ensure controls, process, and monitoring are in place, and to help improve outcomes. 'What we've found is as we've worked with the community through their leadership, it's kept us safe and ensures the integrity of rongoā is maintained.' ACC has partnered with more than 160 rongoā practitioners where the registration process includes an endorsement from mana whenua, a police check and requirement for all practitioners to be subject to the Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994. Paea said it was about ensuring that clients are treated fairly, are respected, and that there's a good quality care of service. When asked if rongoā Māori is valued in general, leading practitioner Donna Kerridge (Ngāti Tahinga, Ngāti Mahuta) said it is by those who use it but 'maybe not' by others who don't understand. 'I think it's hard to value something that you don't understand, and you don't know.' She said a lot more can be done to help improve collaboration 'between those of us who will work towards the same goal' of serving people to the best of their abilities. Tanya has been met with scepticism throughout her journey with people questioning rongoā Māori but is adamant that it is the patient's choice. 'It really comes down to the needs, wants and desires of the patient that's been diagnosed, and their whānau. Everything else should not matter. It should not matter.' When asked if she thinks she's encouraging people to opt out of western treatments in favour of Māori healing approaches, she strongly denies wanting to discourage anyone off radiotherapy or chemotherapy but only hopes to share her experience. 'I would never, ever say to people 'don't do that'. This is my journey. Your journey needs to be yours. I don't carry the responsibility of others. All I do is share my journey so people can get a different perspective.' Tanya wants to see terminally ill patients given more treatment options and be allocated funds so they can access whatever healing method they believe in. Going through the ordeal of a brain scan for official confirmation took courage on Tanya's part. 'I was like, I'm not doing it. I'm not doing that. You're not doing that to me again. What if I go and have a scan and they said it's all over, [that] it's so widespread there's nothing we can do about it, then what will that do to my hinengaro, to my wairua?' She becomes emotional recalling what her daughter said to persuade her to go through with it. 'My daughter said, 'Mum, you were brave in 2013, you were brave in 2015, and you can be brave again'.' Her bravery was rewarded with her doctor reporting back that there was no indication of cancer, no lesions, 'nothing'. '[Rongoā Māori is] a choice that we made and it's worked out for us. I've been blessed with quality of life, I've been blessed enough to get longevity also. Rongoā Māori saved me, there's no other way to think about that.' Watch this episode of Marae on TVNZ+ for more on this story. rongoā Māori – traditional Māori healing practice that takes a holistic approach to wellbeing rongoā – medicine, remedy, treatment tangi – cry kōtiro – girl pōtiki – youngest karakia – incantations, prayers mirimiri – massage incorporating physical, spiritual and mental aspects tupuna – ancestors ā-wairua – spiritual, of the spirit realm wairua – spirit hinengaro – mind tinana – body
