Māori rongoā, mirimiri and tohunga

Domain XI · Traditional medicine & indigenous healing

What it is

Rongoā Māori is the traditional healing system of Māori. The Action Plan calls it "a complete and complex, uniquely Māori system of healing", a taonga tuku iho (treasure handed down) by tohunga, mātanga rongoā, whānau, hapū and iwi, derived from mātauranga Māori and connecting people with the…

Format

• There is no session count for the therapist's work alongside rongoā. The phases below organise your own work around the Hui Process stages and the Meihana Model's Whakatere step. The way these are combined with the CFI and with rongoā collaboration is.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Tohunga. "Tohunga" names both the expert and the discipline. Tohunga are "recognised experts in their field by their communities". There is no single training institution, and knowledge passes through elders and apprenticeship. Practice varies by tribe, area, local plants and the person's needs. The Tohunga Suppression Act 1907 penalised people who claimed supernatural powers to treat disease or foretell events…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• using Māori colleagues as unpaid consultants; cultural supervision that never changes practice.
• hesitation or a quick "no" (come back later); signs of past ridicule. It is working when disclosure grows over time.
• whānau pressure on the client about rongoā or church in either direction; family violence. Respect the client's choices.
• guilt-led over-apology that centres you; the client being asked to educate you. It is working when the client feels safer to speak openly.
• reading the questions like a form; skipping the clinician–patient relationship question. It is working when the client corrects or extends your summary.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.