History Page

Traditional Maori Healing
The Impact of Colonisation
Current Rongoa Maori
References

Traditional Maori Healing

In traditional times before the colonisation of New Zealand, Maori saw science and religion as the same entity and believed that illnesses were caused by supernatural sources. Maori had a good concept of anatomy, physiology and the use of plants for healing, however there was an undefined distinction between the mind and body. 

The tohunga was the traditional Maori healer and thought of as a priestly expert and a professional in a particular field of human endeavor such as art, agriculture, warfare, fishing and healing. Tohunga were essential in traditional Maori society because of the importance of religion in their everyday life ⁴. They were trained in the whare wananga (house of learning) and only the most intelligent students were chosen to become tohunga⁵. Tohunga were perceived as the mediator between spirits so were important in healing the sick. Tohunga would use spiritual healing and herbal medicines and saw no distinction between the two methods. They believed that the use of one was not effective without the other as they were both parts of a complete treatment⁵.

Maori believed an evil spirit or a type of witchcraft would attack an individual to cause ill-health as a punishment for breaking the tapu (sacred restriction) of the family that the spirit belonged to². This type of illness was called mate atua (disease of the gods) since there was no obvious physical cause. The individual would experience pain, weakness, loss of appetite, malaise, fever and occasionally delirium due to possession of the spirit ⁴.  

The tohunga would investigate the cause of sickness by taking a history of the patient’s activities before becoming ill or by analyzing their dreams or the dreams of the patient’s family to obtain a diagnosis ⁴. Spiritual healing using karakia (incantations) for particular illnesses were performed with or without the use of herbs⁵. If the cause of illness was found to be due to the patient breaking another family’s tapu, the tohunga and the head of the patient’s family would address the spirit and the head of their family. An apology would follow so that the spirit would leave and the patient would recover ⁴. Maori also believed that there were illnesses that were caused by makutu (witchcraft) that would result in the death of the patient unless the tohunga could return the spell onto the person responsible for casting it. This would then cause the death of the sorcerer and the recovery of the patient ⁴.

Herbal medicines, minor surgery or mirimiri (massage) were used to treat illnesses that were obviously due to physical causes. This type of treatment was limited because of the belief that illness was of spiritual origin ⁴.

The Impact of Colonisation

The arrival of the European settlers to New Zealand had a huge impact on the health of the Maori people. The introduction of new weapons (for example, the musket) and especially infectious diseases saw the decrease of the Maori population to a level where it was thought that the Maori race would become extinct. New Zealand’s isolation meant that the Maori people to lacked immunity to bacterial and viral infections that were common in other countries ⁴. 

Tohunga found their methods hopeless against these new diseases and found that the Maori people began to lose confidence with the introduction of Western medicine and Christianity. With the introduction of internal medicines, Maori began to develop their own knowledge about herbal remedies and experiment with native plants ⁴.  The effectiveness (although still ineffective at this stage of development) and popularity of the missionaries medicines assisted in the conversion of Maori to Christianity. It appeared to the Maori that the Christian god had superior powers and this attributed to the health and prosperity of the Europeans5. The fundamentals of Maori society, culture, religion and medicine became strained as religion was involved in their everyday lives and many of their beliefs were based upon it ⁴. The tohunga began to lose his mana (power, authority and prestige) due to the shift of religion and the spread of Western knowledge undermining the tohunga’s authority  The downfall of the whare wananga (school of learning) was also due to conflict between Maori religion and Christianity ⁴.   

The Maori people never fully lost faith in their own healers and did not fully accept Western medicine due to poor access to medical facilities and the cost of travel and services. Western medicine was also not very effective at the time. Many Maori would still turn to their local tohunga for medical treatment ⁴. 

The Tohunga Supression Act was passed in 1907 due to concern that was being raised over the practice and safety of some tohunga. After the collapse of the traditional tohunga, another type of healer took advantage of the vulnerable position the Maori people were faced with. These healers were considered by many to be motivated by greed and were seen as a threat to both Maori and Pakeha. Maori healing was also seen as ‘dangerous’ by Western modern medicine as it was not scientifically proven. The Tohunga Suppression Act was repealed in 1962 however this had little significance as some tohunga had practiced throughout the 20th century especially in remote rural areas of the country ⁴.     

Current Rongoa Maori

The traditional beliefs of Maori healing and healthcare have become increasingly popular over the last 20 years and traditional healing techniques are being incorporated into the services of Maori health providers³. The repeal of the Tohunga Supression Act, the increased popularity of traditional and alternative medicine, the failure to improve Maori health status and issues with primary health care such as access, cost and cultural beliefs may have contributed to the increasing demand for traditional Maori healing methods.  Maori healing has been an alternative method of health care when conventional medicine has been unsuccessful⁴. Current practice of traditional Maori healing aims to work with conventional health care to enhance healthcare services³.

Tohunga are still significant in current rongoa Maori however modern tohunga have not been trained in traditional methods giving them a position of authority and prestige however they are still recognized as experts in their field. Many modern tohunga showed potential in their childhood by spending time with their elders and learning tribal and cultural lore. They then became an apprentice under an established tohunga to learn their expertise⁴.

Current Maori healthcare is based on a holistic model that incorporates the physical, emotional, family and spiritual aspects of health1. Each aspect must be treated or used to ensure full recovery of a patient. The current function of modern tohunga is varied.  Conventional medicine is incorporated into the tohunga’s practice however traditional methods of karakia (chants) and inoi (prayer) are still extensively used. Native plants for medicinal purposes are widely used however application of uses varies between each practitioner⁴.    

References

1 - Action for Health and Independence Conference. Ministry of Health, Wellington, August 1998. 

2 -Buck, P. The Coming of the Maori. Wellington: Whitcomb and Tombs, 1970

3 - Jones, R. Traditional Maori Healing. Pacific Health Dialog Vol 7. No. 1. 2000 p107-109.

4 - Jones, R.G. Rongoa Maori and Primary Healthcare (Thesis). University of Auckland, Auckland, 2000.

5 - Riley, M. Maori Healing and Herbal. Viking Sevenseas, Paraparaumu, 1994