Tuhoe: Paenga-whawha The refuse of food plants is piled on the margins of the fields.
Ngahuru (tenth, Williams) 10th and 11th months are sometimes grouped together Willams) The new year began about two months after the harvest was gathered, but little notice was taken of these two months which are held to be of now importance and were not so precisely named as in the other ten months.
Matahi kari piwai the gleaning month, when the piwai or tubers overlooked by drop-diggers were dug up for use.
Whanui (Vega) is another of the high class stars, the whetu-rangatira. Was a pole star for about two thousand years from 12,000 to 10,000 BC.
If it appears to move slowly this is said to be the sign of a tau aki, or fat season – all food products will florish, vegetable and animal; but if it seems to move quickly, as though borne forward by the wind, then a lean season follows. Whanui gives the sign for the lifting of the kumara(Ipomoea batatas) crop and this must not be delayed too long after the heliacal rising of the star. Hence it takes place in the month of Poutu-te-rangi. As it was well known when Whanui will appear, storage pits for the kumara are put in order in good time and when Whanui appears the task of lifting the crop is commenced, after which comes the harvest festival – feasting and rejoicing, with indulgence in old time games and pastimes.
“Another star in the heavens is Whanui, who address to the people is – ‘O friends! Here am I, Whakakorongata, awake and rise! Seize your spade and to work, store the crop in the pits, then turn to rejoicing and sing your chants of joy, for all women and children are now joyful, there is naught to disturb them.”
The task of Whanui is to provide kumara as food for the people of this world. It was from Whanui that this tuber was originally obtained by man. Pani-tinaku, who is the mother of the kumara, was the wife of Rongo-maui, (rongo-marae-roa) the taina (younger brother or relative) of Whanui. The latter would not part with any of his children, the kumara; hence they were stolen from him by Rongo, who brought the seed to this world, and Pani gave birth to the tuber at the Wai o Mono-ariki. Pani was the aunt and foster-mother of the Maui brothers, whose father was Tangaroa-i-te-rupetu, a brother of Pani.
Whanui never forgets his yearly boon to mankind; year by year he sends to him the mana of the prized tuber, the sweet potato. Yet he seems to have made man suffer for the act of theft committed by Rongomaui, for he said to Anuhe, and Toronu and Moka “Go you below and live upon rongo” – and hence we ever see those pests assailing the kumara. These are three species of caterpillar that attack the kumara plants. (Best; Astronomical knowledge, page 64). The whole kumara plant and the liquor made from it were used internally for low fever and externally for various skin diseases.
Rehua’s children
The fish are the children of Rehua. The berries on the trees are the lice in Rehua’s hair and the birds feed on the lice in Rehua’s hair. The head is the most tapu part of the body so the berries and the birds share some of the tapu of Rehua. Think about what this says – The fruiting trees (Rehua’ hair) have berries that feed the birds and the birds feed the people. Rehua is sometimes a star (time -season) and sometimes the warmth of the sun (also seasonal change in the forest, sea and rivers).
Eels
Eels were considered by Maori to be the progeny of supernatural beings. They were a diet staple, particularly south of Banks Peninsula where kumara was hard to grow.
In late summer and autumn, during the annual migration from lakes such as Forsyth (Wairewa) or Ellesmere (Waihora) near Christchurch, Maori would dig channels in which they captured thousands of eels which could be preserved for months by smoking and drying in the sun.
The adult eel migrations to the sea take place in March, April and May. The Māori (“natives” in the original) have no record of the large eels returning, but the young fry go up the rivers in the spring in countless numbers.” (Best; Fishing methods, page 94)
In Horowhenua, and Buller there are two major species of eels. The migrations of the adult dark-brown, copper bellies species (known as puhi and hau) which was better eating began in February and continued through March, beginning about 6:00pm in the evening and continuing for approximately three hours. These eels were taken with hinaki, or eel-pot or by spearing. They do not run when the moon is up unless it rains. (Best; fishing methods page 100-1)
In the East coast of the North Island, the matamoe eel was taken in the first phase of a flood. Such spates occur about March on the east coast of the North Island, and eel-weirs were then attended to, in order to take them. Should a person delay in setting his eel-trap he would miss the descending eels, one would say, “Nau i whaktakoto i to hinaki i te wai tawawarua, aneite wai tuhi ka taha” (You set your eel-pot during the main flood, after the first freshet had passed.)
Tuna -Longfin eel, yellowbelly (Anguilla dieffenbachii)
Yellowbelly asspcoated with rivers but found in varied habitats: streams, rivers wetlands and lakes and high elevation lakes. Large individual have been found in stream pools up to 300km inland. Secretive and nocturnal by habit, living in instream under cover or under overhung banks; emerges at night to feed. Matures 25-30 years. Female may stay in freshwater for 80+ years. Transforms into a migrant over summer (eyes enlarge, colour changes, females loses large dome on head); migrates to sea in autumn and travels to subtropical Pacific Ocean (perhaps near Tonga) and spawns. The lava hatches and returns to the ocean taking over 18 months to do so. There it transforms and enters rivers in spring as transparent glass eel, where it becomes brown eel and hides in substrate.
Shortfin eel, silverbelly (Anguilla australis)
Can be found up to 300km inland. Usually secretive and nocturnal. The adult matures 15-30 years. Females may stay in freshwater 40+ years. Transforms into migrant over summer (eyes enlarge; lips become thin, snout becomes chisel-shaped, colour changes); migrates to sea in autumn; travels to western suptropical Pacific Ocean (perhaps between Fiji and Tahiti) and spawns. Lava hatches and returns over 18 months, transforms; enters rivers in spring as transparent glass eel, enters substrate and then becomes brown coloured.
Spotted eel (Anguilla reinhardtii)
Long-lived with large adults exceeding 40 years; transforms into migrant over summer (eyes enlarge, lips shrink, colour changes); and migrates to sea in autumn; spawns in subtropical Pacific Ocean and spawns. The lava hatches and returns entering rivers in autumn-winter as transparent glass eel.
Other freshwater fish
Porohe, Paraki, Common smelt (Retropinna retropinna)
Occurs in large roving shoals in estuaries and inland rivers, usually in still or gently flowing waters, often in open waters and around margins of lakes. Matures in one or two years, spawns in lower reaches of rivers in summer and autumn. Adults die after spawning. Lavae go to sea. Some return in spring as transparent whitebait-like juveniles, but most as adults in spring/summer.
Upokororo, greyling (Prototroctes oxyrhynchus)
Upokororo form fast moving shoals that escape into deep pools when disturbed. They nigrates upstream to spawn probably during autumn/winter. Lava go to sea and return as whitebait-like juvenile in spring.
Giant kokopu (Galaxias argenteus)
Giant kokopu favour small to medium-sized, gently flowing, overgrown, weedy/boggy streams, swampy lagoons and lake margins. They are solitaryand somewhat nocturnal. They matures at 2-3 years, spawning in autumn and winter. There may be a downstream spawning migration. Larvae go to sea, spend about 18 months there and return as whitebait from early November onwards. They are long-lived, perhaps more than 20 years.
Inanga (Galaxias maculatus)
Inanga favours gently flowing and still waters – estuaries, lowland rivers and streams, lagoons and backwaters, where it is found in small to large, loose, roving mid-water shoals. Inanga mature in 1-2 years, and, in autumn, migrate downstream to estuaries on full or new moons when spring tides cover marginal estuary vegetation They spawn upstream of tidal salt wedge amongst vegetation; often making the water turn milky. The eggs develop in humid air and hatch at a later series of spring tides; go to sea, feed for 21-23 weeks before returning to rivers in spring as whitebait.
Hauhau, waikaka, Brown mudfish (Neochanna apoda)
Hauhau prefer springs, boggy creeks and the margins of wetlands. When the water dries up, hauhau hide in old root holes and beneath debris and logs where they avoid dehydration during summer and autumn. Solitary and secretive, they feed mainly at night. Houhou spawn in autumn after dry period, laying their eggs in old root holes when the water returns; they hatch in 3-4 weeks. Hauhau continue to live in the same area they hatched in.
Yellowbelly flounder (Rhomboselea leporina)
The Yellowbelly flounder is seldom far from sea and found only in river estuaries and lowland, brackish lakes, usually on sandy substrates They spawn offshore in winter and spring and migrate inshore for summer and autumn.
Birds available for fowling
It was permitted to hunt Kiwi from March to June. The little spotted kiwi known as kiwi-hoihoi or kiwi-pukupuku. The great spotted Kiwi was known as roa or kiwi-karuwai. The young kiwi were sometimes known as pio, rire and rirerire. They were hunted with dogs on a leash.
Kakapo:
Kakapo were hunted from March to November. Kapapo was also known as tarapo and tarepo. They were taken by the aid of dogs, by spring-snare and by means of the whakawiri, knocked over by stick or simply caught by hand. Kakapo likes to pick the berries of the tutu shrub (Coriaria ruscifolia, also known as tūpākihi, puhou and tāwehu) and it also liked to grub fern root.
The kakapo lives in holes burrowed in the ground, where it remains during the day, coming out in the night; it feeds on berries and roots. Although able to fly, it rarely or never takes to the wing. To hunt it natives went to the plains when the berries of the tutu were ripe, which are a favourite food of that bird. The Maori selected fine moonlight nights to hunt. They ran them down partly with dogs or even killed them with long sticks upon the tutu bushes. Another mode was, when they had found out their holes, to introduce a long stick into them, to which they had fastened several strong flax snares; feeling the bird with the end of it, they began to twist the stick, so as to bring some part of the bird into the snares and thus drag it out.
A form of trap known as puaka was used in taking flightless birds; it consisted of a square enclosure on each side of which was fixed this spring snare known as a tawhiti (tupaki), the loop of which was so arranged in a small entrance passage that any creature attempting to pass through was caught and firmly held by the force of the spring. It was usual to place some kind of bait within the enclosure.
The kakapo was one of the birds that were preserved in fat in former times, being cooked and placed in gourd vessels, into which the melted fat was poured until the birds were covered by it. (Best; Forest lore, page 173-4) I was a judge in a science fair in Wellington where a group tried this method to preserve chicken. It worked well.
Miromiro, (Tit), Toutouwai,, (robin) and Touhou, (Silvereye) were caught March to July
Food from the forest
Edible berries were harvested from Rimu (Red pine, Dacrydium cupressinum). The Rimu flowers from October to Dec, and the berries are ripe from March to April.
Totara (Podocarpus totara) berries were ripe from March to April. The bark was also harvested for making vessels and plates.
Kawakawa. Pepper tree, (Macropiper excelsum) ripen in Autumn. As the name suggests they were peppery and good for treating colds. The root was chewed to relieve toothache.
Kohia/kahia, NZ passion flower (Tetrapathaea tetrandra) is a climber not a tree. Its white flowers look like the European passion flower. It begins flowering in November and flowering continues until late December. Berries form and are ripe in the Autumn. The fruit was eaten by Māori but also rats and birds feed on the fruit. Oil was extracted from the seed.
Horoeka, lancewood (Pseudopanax crassifolius) Small, purplish-black fruit on female trees only in autumn and winter that are edible for both people and birds. They are especially enjoyed by whitehead, tui and Kereru. The Horoeks holds a special place in Māori culture, who have traditionally used the wood for carving, fishing spears, and weapons. The wood is extremely strong and durable. Additionally, the tree is considered a taonga (treasure) in Māori culture, and is protected by the Treaty of Waitangi.
The Nikau palm (Rhopalostylis sapida) flowers in Spring and the seed fruits are mature in Autumn. The base of the palm leaf was sometimes taken as a green, but this killed the palm.
The Ngaio (Myoporum laetum) has small, reddish-purple fruit, in early autumn but the fruit contains a poison and needs very careful preparation so was rarely used. The leaf buds and inner bark also have uses in traditional Rongoa medicinal practices, intended to soothe stomach pain or sore gums.
Kahikatea Swamp Forest
Most of the widespread rimu-dominated type of conifer-broadleaf forest cannot tolerate waterlogged soils. The tall kahikatea (kahikatea) is the dominant tree throughout these swamp forests, in association with the tall broadleaf tree pukatea (Laurelia novae-zelandiae) and the smaller swamp maire (Syzygium maire). The long-leaved vine kiekie (Freycinetia banksia)can be abundant, as well as the tātarāmoa ,swamp lawyer vine (Rubus australis and several species of small leaved shrubs: also groves of the tree fern wheki (Dicksonia squarrosa).
The pukatea and swamp maire send up breathing roots above the surface of the swamp to take in air. Nearest the water edge are the small-leaved shrubs, native flax (Phormium) and scattered cabbage trees. Next comes a belt of kahikatea where the soil surface is a little higher and behind that, on rising ground, rimu-dominated forest.
Kahikatea support whole ecosystems on their trunks and branches, plants and ferns, together with lichens, mosses and liverworts.
Birds and trees
Honeyeaters
Honey eaters in NZ include the tui, bellbird and stitchbird. These birds have long tongues, branched and feathery at the tip, for sweeping up nectar from flowers. The flowers they visit have a tubular or dup-like form to hold the copious nectar and they are generally brightly coloured, mostly red but sometimes yellow, to catch the eyes of the birds. Most of these flowers are found in the canopy of the forest on ratas and pohutukawa, rewarewa, the kowhai, the tree fuschia and puriri. The birds act as pollinators for these flowers, and the stamens are arranged so they dust pollen on the heads of the birds as they reach in for the nectar.
Tui (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae)
Small flocks of Tui make sorties from nearby forests to feed on the flax flower nectar where large stands occur in some coastal and wetland regions. Tui also congregate on blooming coastal pohutukawa to feed on this particularly abundant supply of sweet nectar.
Flowering rata (Metrosideros albiflora)
Rata is found in lowland forest south to the Bay of Plenty, mostly in kauri forest. Its white flowers shining in the shade of the forest. Flowering occurs through summer to early autumn, with capsules ripening from late summer through autumn.
Other rata include: (Metrosideros perforate) which has small white flowers. Flowering is from mid-summer to early autumn with capsules ripening through autumn into winter; (Metrosideros carminea)
With bright red flower. Fruiting capsules ripen from late spring to early autumn; (Metrosideros diffusa) which has white to pinkish white flowers. With capsules ripening from mid-summer to early autumn and (Metrosideros colensoi) which prefers fertile soils such as river terraces. It has white to pinkish white flowers. Capsules ripening through summer into early autumn.
Aboreal herbivores
Include the two parakeets, the native pigeon and the kokako. These eat some or all of buds, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds. They also eat invertebrates in the breeding season. Extinct: piopio (Turnagra capensis). Tuis, Bellbirds and stitchbirds also eat berries and insects.
Karakriki, Parakeets (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae, red-crowned parakeet) and (C. auriceps), yellow-crowned parakeet.
Red-crowned parakeet forages on the forest floor as well as the canopy. Live in holes in tree trunks and branches or ground burrows. Feed on seeds, berries, flowers, leaves and also insects.
Kereru (hemiphaga novaeseelandiae)
The Kweweu eats fruits and leaves and is particularly important in the distribution of the large berries of Miro, tawa, taraire, puriri andkaraka.
Puriri (Vitex lucens)
Handsome coastal and lowland forest tree up to 20m high. The bird pollinated flowers are attractively red-pink. They are curved and tubular in the lower part then spread into asymmetrically arranged petals. The berries are more or less spherical, bright red and up to 2cm in diameter. They are eaten and then the seed is passed. It is pick up and transported by the New Zealand pigeon and other birds to other areas. Flowering is mostly from early winter to mid-spring with the fruits ripening from late summer – mid spring although many puriri trees never seem to be without flowers or fruits, or sometimes both together. The tree was used by Māori for various medicinal purposes: the water from boiled leaves was good for sprains and backache, and the infusion was a remedy for ulcers and sore throats.
Karaka (Corynocarpus laevigatus)
Trees are an impressive sight weighed down with their large orange berries. The single large seeds in the berries are poisonous until cooked but were an important food for the Māori. Flowers are small and greenish. The berries are large, bright orange 2.5-4cm long. They flower from late winter through spring, and berries ripen from mid-summer through autumn.
Miro, toromiro (Prumnopitys furruginea)
The flowers are on separate male and female trees and is largely pollinated by birds.. They prefer to grow on flats, slopes and ridges. During the autumn, birds particularly kereru, wax plump on the small, plum-sized bright red berries, to the point where they can hardly fly. Māori took advantage o the kereru’s thirst after gorging itself on the berries by placing snared water troughs near the trees; when drinking kereru caught their heads in hidden nooses.
The tree was considered to have healing properties. Māori used oil from the berries to cure fevers and applied also applied it to the skin as an insecticide. The fresh gum was used to stop the loss of blood from wounds and to treat ulcers. A liquor prepared from leaves and bark was used to treat gonorrhoea and one made from bark only was used to treat stomach-ache.
Epiphytic shrub
(Pittosporum cornifolium)
This is a spindly shrub often hanging below nest epiphytes. Its flowers are pale red to yellowish.. Open capsules have an orange-red interior with black seeds embedded in bright yellow sticky fluid and are attractive to birds. Some of the seeds that not eaten can become attached to the birds and transported to other trees. Flowering occurs through winter to early spring with capsules opening from mid-spring to early autumn.
Forest vines
Kohia, Native passion vine (Passiflora tetrandra)
Frequent in lowland forests throughout the North Island and as far as the middle of the South Island. Its stems often form snake-like coils on the forest floor in their lower parts but extend from there up into the forest canopy. The flowers of female plants form fruits like small balloons that are conspicuous with their bright orange colouring. Native birds break the fruits open to eat the seeds with their fleshy coverings, from autumn into winter.
Tataramoa, Bush Lawyer (Rubus cissoides)
Uses hooks to attach to host. Flowers Clusters of small berries are orange red, ripening through summer and autumn. (genus includes blackberry and raspberry). The fruits are eaten by birds and people.
Bush lawyer (Rubus squarrosus)
Flowers are yellowish. The fruits are orange-red, with ripe fruits from late spring to autumn.
Parastic Mistletoe
(Alepis flavida)
Sparsely branched shrub up to 1m high. Flowers are in groups of 6-15 bright yellow to orange yellow or red with the petals splitting only halfway to the base. The berries are yellow to orange. Birds eat the berries which are available from mid-summer through autumn.
The bird-dispersed seeds stick to branches with a special glue and tap into the host tree’s water-conducting vessels (xylem) to access nutrients from the sap. Mistletoes are called hemi-parasites because they still photosynthesise to produce their own carbohydrates. Most are evergreen, remaining leafy in winter even when their deciduous host trees lose their leaves. This feat is possible because they can continue to draw sap by capillary action, even when the host tree is dormant.
This ability to remain leafy year round is one reason mistletoes are increasingly called keystone species – they play a key role in maintaining ecosystem function, just as a keystone at the top of a masonry arch holds the whole structure in place.
Migrating birds leaving NZ
Besides being a source of food both meat and eggs, migrating birds are timekeepers -their journeys to and from Aotearoa signalling seasonal and atmospheric changes. The direction of their flight is gives important directional markers for navigation and reveals the position of unseen lands.
Eastern Bar-tailed Godwit . (Limosa lapponica baueri)
Approximately 100,000 Godwits migrate to NZ in late September and October together with other waders after a nesting season in the tundra of the Arctic regions of Siberia and Alaska.
After moulting in late summer, many birds, particularly the males assume a reset-coloured nuptial plumage. By March the birds become restless flying from roost to roost. They finally leave for the return migration to Siberia in late March and April.
Red (Lesser) Knots (Calidris canutus)
The second largest number of visiting migrant waders are the Red Knots. Approximately 60,000 birds arrive in NZ each summer, often feeding and associating with the Eastern Bar-tailed Godwits. They feed on molluscs and marine organisms which are closer to the surface. Many Red Knots assume a very bright plumage in late summer, prior to their return migration to nest in Siberia. Some hundreds of non-breeding knots remain to overwinter in New Zealand.
Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)
Approximately 6000 Turnstones visit NZ each summer. They nest in the tundra regions of Alaska, Greenland and Siberia.
Pacific golden Plover (Pluvialis fulva)
Small number migrate to NZ in early summer from their Arctic breeding grounds. Both species return to nest in the tundra regions of Alaska and Siberia in Autumn.
Arctic Skua (Stercorarius parasticus)
Two species of skua visit NZ sheltered coastal waters each summer and autumn. The Pomarine Skua (Stercorarius pomarinus) the larger of the two is only a rare visitor. Arctic Skuas are frequently seen in sheltered coastal waters.
Flesh footed shearwater (Puffinus carneipes)
Flesh-footed Shearwaters are common in inland coastal waters, particularly on the east coast.
The birds nest in burrows on many offshore islands, laying a single egg. Parents come ashore only after dark, taking turns to incubate the egg. After nesting, the birds migrate to the northern Pacific Ocean. They return in the spring to nest in NZ.
Buller’s Shearwater (Puffinus bulleri)
Bullers Shearwaters are common in inland coastal waters particularly off the east coast of the North Island. They also inhabit seas as far south as Stewart Island.
They are endemic to NZ, and their only breeding ground is on the Poor Knights Islands off the coast of Northland. Here, over 200,000 birds nest in burrows in the soft soil. After nesting the birds migrate to the northern Pacific Ocean in autumn but return to NZ to nest.
Titi, Sooty Shearwater or Muttonbird (Puffinus griseus)
This is NZ’s most prolific breeding bird. Several million birds nest in burrows on many offshore islands, particularly the islands around Stewart Island and the Snares. In April and May, after nesting, enormous rafts of Sooty Shearwaters (up to 500,000 birds) can be seen off the coasts as they migrate to the northern Pacific Ocean where they spend the NZ winter.
Fluttering Shearwater (Puffinus gavia)
In Autumn, after nesting, many birds move south to the waters surrounding Steward Island, while many of the young birds made a short migration to the east coast of Australia.
White-faced Storm Petrel (Pelagodroma marina)
They begin nesting through November and December in hollows burrowed in soft soil, or in rock crevices on many small islets along the coast of both the North and south islands. After nesting the birds migrate to the seas near the coast of Peru and Ecuador.They return to the NZ coast in late spring.
Shining cuckoo (Chrysococcyx lucidus)
Migrates in March to the western Pacific, western Indonesia, New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Prefers insects and beetles to most other foods.