Haumia-tiketike

Say it: HOW-mee-ah TEE-keh-tee-keh · Haumia = ?, tiketike = elevated, lofty.

Haumia is what sustains you when nothing has been planned — resourcefulness, humility, hidden provision.

Te Kāwai (Line of descent)

Te Kore → Te Pō → Papatūānuku → Haumia-tiketike

Te Kōrero (the story)

Uncultivated food — fernroot, berries, what the land gives without being farmed. He hid in Papatūānuku during the storms, so he is also the Atua of taking shelter.

When the storm came, Haumia and Rongo hid within the body of Papatūānuku. Their hair remained visible above the soil, and so the fern root and the wild foods were found — the food of lean seasons.

Te Whakapapa (the genealogy)

Son of Ranginui and Papatūānuku; hid with Rongo inside their mother.

His hair remained above the soil — the fern fronds by which he was found.

Where Rongo is the planted garden, Haumia is everything that grows unasked.

Ngā Mana (domains and influence)

Uncultivated and wild food — aruhe (fernroot), pikopiko, berriesForaging, and the pantry of lean seasonsShelter and lying low

Kei Kōnei Rātou (they are present here)

Blackberries, watercress, plums on a verge — food nobody planted.
The plan falling through, and something simpler working.
Bracken on a hillside.
Realising you already have what you were about to buy.
Wild food: blackberries, watercress, foraged greens.
Whatever you fall back on when plans fail.
Rest taken without guilt.

Ngā Huarahi Hono (ways to connect)

Foraging anything wild

Take from the third plant you find, not the first, and never all of it.

A week where nothing is going to plan

Eat something plain and unhurried, and say his name over it. Lean seasons are his.

You want to buy something new

Look for what you already have first. That search is the acknowledgement.

If you are new to this

Notice one edible or useful plant growing untended near where you live.

A Common Misunderstanding

'Wild' food was not lesser food — it was the safety net that carried whānau through hard seasons, and it deserved the same care.

Ngā Taha o te Ora (aspects of life)

Tinana (Body)Whānau (Family)

Ngā Uara (values)

Māhaki · Humility and gentleness

Humility keeps you fed.

Whakaaro nui · Deep thought

Notice what is already there.

Ngā Pūrākau (the traditional stories)

Told in full, the way they would be shared out loud. Versions differ between iwi (tribe), hapū (sub-tribe) and whānau.

Te huna — the one who hid

Fernroot, shelter, and why hiding was the right call.

About 4 min read

Te kai o te ngahere — the pantry nobody planted

Foraging tikanga, and the rules that kept wild food coming back.

About 4 min read