Since this is the Environment issue of Salient, Ngāi Tauira searched around campus for an environmental story with a Māori flavour, and came across a tasty story happening at Te Kawa a Māui or the School of Māori Studies.
Part of the job at Māori Studies is to protect and promote Māori culture. Traditional horticulture and good preparation are a thread in the wider tapestry that is Māori culture and tradition.
Nestled behind the Te Kawa a Māui offices, this thread is being actualised with the preparation for a maara kai or traditional vegetable garden right here at Kelburn Campus.
The ethos behind this initiative is to recreate the type of garden that Māori would have tended pre- European contact, sourcing crops such as kumara, gourds and yams. There are plans for the maara kai to be incorporated into classes as a teaching tool.
If you would like to know more about this initiative, the friendly staff members in the front offices of 50KP can help answer your questions. Moreover, if you’re so inspired, why not take up MAOR217 and have a structural way of being involved in tending and learning about the maara kai?
A very hungry Ngāi Tauira Exec member over and out.