Whirinaki Rainforest: A supermarket and a pharmacy...rolled into one
Before the coming of the European, the vast timbered lands of the Whirinaki rainforest served as a Garden of Eden to the mountain iwi (tribes) of Te Urewera region of the central North Island of Aotearoa (New Zealand).
The diversity of the flora and fauna provided for all the needs of those who dwelt below the towering giants - tree species that had evolved in the Jurassic era. It was, and remains so, a huge contrast to the volcanic ash and pumice lands that make up most of the region and thus was much fought over by the early tribesmen who came from near and far to seize upon its rich birdlife and edible plant species.
The Whirinaki rainforest and the river from which it takes its name provided the usual abundant birdlife, including kereru (wood pigeon), tui and kaka (North Island parrot), and native fish and eels.
The traditional foods gathered from the forest sustained life - long before the advent of modern-day supermarkets and pharmacies.
Pikopiko, the fern frond, was a favourite vegetable in season, and the toitoi - so feared for its razor-sharp leaves - provided more food from its roots. Bracken, long regarded a weed and burnt off by the early European settlers wanting to turn ‘wasteland’ into pasture, could be dug and the root pounded into a flour-like substance.
The forest was also a rich source of medicine, on which the early indigenous peoples often owed their survival.
Plants which deadened nerves - protruding with fractures of the limbs or surrounding rotting teeth - and those that treated all manner of ailments, including sexual and mental disorders, stomach upsets, battle wounds and the aftermath of childbirth, all came from within this 60,000 hectare temperate rainforest.
The medicine plants of the Whirinaki rainforest are used to this day by some of the older residents who live on the forest fringes, in small settlements a long way from doctors and hospitals.
They prefer what nature provided for their ancestors to the synthetic drugs manufactured
en masse. Some locals still gather the traditional ingredients regularly, using the knowledge of their preparation passed down from generation to generation since the coming of te tangata (the people) to this land centuries ago.
Young and old still gather some of the traditional foods, especially pikopiko, which is considered a delicacy during its finite growing season.
The more active venture into the forest and the rivers and streams that pass through it, mainly seeking native eels. It is an affront to many purists that the locals often catch rainbow trout - introduced by the Europeans at the end of the 19th century for sports fishing - to use as bait for eels, which they prefer for their fat content.
It is the stories of how the early Maori of Whirinaki survived in those pre-supermarket, pre-pharmacy that the kaiarahi (indigenous guides) of Whirinaki Rainforest Guided Walks share with people from all over the world in this more modern era.
During guided walks of one and three day' duration, the young kaiarahi (guides) talk simply about how their ancestors lived and survived, used the natural ingredients from one of the world’s most acclaimed rainforests for all that was required to sustain life itself.
Further information:
Whirinaki Rainforest Guided Walks
Phone 377 2363
Fax 377 3285
E mail walks@rainforest-treks.co.nz
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