Tātai Tāngata ki te Whenua

Pounamu Skelton says a lot of whanaungatanga happens in the māra kai. She should know – for the past four years Pounamu has taught about 300 whānau Māori in Taranaki to grow kai in their own backyards.

Late last year, Pounamu (pictured below) helped reconnect 20 Te Atiawa whānau members back to Papatūānuku through her 10-week Tātai Tāngata ki te Whenua programme for Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa. Her second 12-strong Te Atiawa group graduated in April.

“It’s all about reconnection to the whenua, and it’s beautiful to watch,” Pounamu said.

“There’s that moment when someone is toiling in the soil and they just feel better about themselves. It really helps their physical and mental health. There’s a harikoa too, especially in a group.”

Pounamu (Te Atiawa, Taranaki, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga) said it is deeply satisfying to give whānau tools and the knowledge to grow healthy kai that’s produced through the hua parakore tikanga approach to growing.

“If you can grow a vegetable, you can grow fruit trees, you can grow natives ... and then you can grow anything. It’s transforming knowledge that empowers people,” she said.

“There’s mana attached to that and people feel good about themselves.”

Tātai Tāngata ki te Whenua was created by Pounamu specifically for Taranaki iwi after COVID-19, when she was living in Waitara and could see grassy back yards where no food was being grown.

A gardener, teacher of māra kai gardening and tumu whakarae of Te Waka Kai Ora (National Māori Organics Authority of Aotearoa), Pounamu decided to do something about that.

She’s developed a hybrid programme of online and in-person wānanga that are held at Te Rau o Rongo Papakāinga in Onaero, her whānau two-hectare Māori food farm. Taranaki iwi ran the first programme, followed by Te Atiawa and Ngāti Mutunga.

Whānau who join the programme are between 16 to 70 years old and the kaupapa is attractive to many combinations of whānau groups.

They all get a māra kai starter kit Pounamu designed to help make māra kai easier for beginners. It has a raised garden bed, seed raising mix, seeds, soil, seedlings and gardening tools.

Tātai Tāngata ki te Whenua is designed around the maramataka so participants can learn about Te Taiao and ngā tohu. Kaupapa include māra design - the best place to put māra kai, different ways of gardening such as no-dig, container or raised beds, seed sowing, transplanting seedlings, composting, companion planting, seed sovereignty and hua parakore - a kaupapa Māori system for kai atua (pure foods).

Mātauranga Māori that uses atua Māori pūrākau is also woven into the programme to illustrate, for instance, philosophies of tiakitanga and parakore that do no harm to the whenua.

“They [participants] can apply the knowledge and teach their kids and start to garden together. I love that for us,” Pounamu said.

“They get to eat the kai and experience food that’s pure, where they understand exactly where it’s from. It’s an opportunity for all our whānau to live a healthy life and a more natural life like our tūpuna did.

“What better thing to do... to share with our own whānau and demonstrate what’s possible.”

Pounamu’s favourite backyard transformation story is about a whanaunga who - three years ago - was new to growing kai. Through the Tātai Tāngata programme she’s transformed her entire backyard to include māra kai and fruit trees that now feed her whānau.

It's a familiar tale, often just the beginning for many – filled with excitement as they embark on their journey.”