A person was specially selected for training in the art of Māori medicine by a tohunga pu (expert) from the whare wananga (house of learning). Ailments were treated in a holistic manner - by spiritual healing, by the power of karakia (prayer), by the mana (power) of the tohunga, and by the use of herbs. I āta tohua he tangata hirahira hei ākonga mō ngā mahi rongoā Māori e tētahi tohunga nō te whare wānanga. I whakamaimoatia torowhānuitia ngā āhuatanga whakaora māuiui mā te whakaora taha wairua, mā ngā karakia, mā ngā pukenga o te tohunga, me ngā rau amiami
Ko ngā pūkenga mahi rongoā he tapu, nā reira, he iti noa iho rātou ka tohua mō tenei mahi. He wehe kē te wāhi mahi rongoā i te wāhi mahi kai, pērā anō me ngā taputapu waihanga. I ētahi wā ko aua rongoā whakaora nō te tupu kotahi, i ētahi wā nō ngā tupu maha.
Mō ngā Māori i mua i te Pākehā, heoi anō pea ngā mate urutā, he mate ngerengere me te mate kohi. Kāhore he ia āraitanga mate o te Māori mō ngā tumomo mate i kawea mai e te Pākehā pēnei i te mate rewharewha, i te mate karawaka, me ētahi atu kirikā.
Ka whāngaia he rau amiami mō ngā mate hā pēnei i te kume, te pūkawe kakā, me te mare; mō te mate puku, mō te mate whēkau, mō ngā puru mimi, mō te mate wahine, ngā uauatanga o te whakawhānau pēpi, me tētahi āhuatanga o te mate kohi.
Kei te whakamahia anō he rau amiami mō ngā mate kiri, pēnei i te whēwhē, mō te wera, te waihakihaki, te mate ngerengere, te mate muna, mō te kiritona, mō te whati, me te whara.
Te nuinga o ngā pārongo rongoā nā ngā tuhinga a ngā Pākehā, me ngā mihinare, mai i ā rātou patapatai, mātakitaki rānei i ngā pūkenga taketake whakamahi tupu.
He rerekē ngā ingoa mō ngā tupu a ētahi iwi, ki ērā o ētahi atu. He āhua ōrite ngā ingoa o ētahi tupu, pēnei i te kahikātoa me te kahikatea. He ahua ōrite ngā ingoa, engari he tino rerekē aua rākau.
Ētahi o ngā panuitanga e pā ana ki te tupu rongoā kei te tautokohia e ngā rangahau a ngā tohunga o te pūtaiao, me ngā rangahau o ngā tupu ōrite nō whenua kē. Ko tētahi tauira ko te kawakawa, kei te tupu ōna whanaunga i ētahi atu whenua o te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, kei te whakamahia hoki e rātou hei rongoā, arā, kei te rangahautia e ngā kaipūtaiao.
Kei raro ake nei ngā pānuitanga e whakaatu ana i ngā hua rongoā o ētahi tupu nō Aotearoa nei. Te nuinga o ēnei tuhinga nā ngā Pākehā tuatahi, me ngā mihinare, engari ehara mō te whakaora i a koe anō, nā te mea kahore anō kia whakamanaia e ngā mahi rangahau.
Below is information that illustrates the medicinal use of a few New Zealand plants. It has been taken predominantly from the recordings of early settlers and missionaries and is not intended for self-medication as in many cases it has not been verified.