Oceania · New Zealand General Public 5 September 2026

Rongoa Maori encompasses rongoa rakau (plant medicine), mirimiri (bodywork), and karakia (prayer and incantation). These are not separable components but aspects of a single practice grounded in the relationship between people and the natural world. Widely used plants include kawakawa (Piper excelsum), taken for digestive complaints, pain and skin conditions; manuka (Leptospermum scoparium), whose honey has well-documented antibacterial activity now used in clinical wound care; harakeke (flax), used for wounds and as material for binding; and koromiko, used for diarrhoea. Gathering follows protocol. Plants are approached with karakia, only what is needed is taken, and the wellbeing of the plant population and its place are considered. The practitioner's relationship with the plant is understood as part of the medicine's efficacy. Colonisation severely disrupted transmission. The Tohunga Suppression Act of 1907 criminalised traditional healing practice, driving it underground for decades and breaking chains of teaching. Rongoa has undergone substantial revival since the late twentieth century. It is now supported within parts of New Zealand's health system, with services funded and practitioners recognised. This revival is understood by many Maori as part of broader cultural and language recovery, in which health and identity are not separate projects.

Aboriginal Bush Medicine: Healing Traditions of Australia

An overview of the world's oldest continuous medical tradition — Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander bush medicine — …