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Sharing the magic of Kawakawa
As Home of the Brave prepared for Matariki we have been exploring the 7 whetuu (Stars, 7 based in Tainui iwi) and their puuraakau. We have enjoyed learning about Tupu-aa-nuku, she is our taonga who looks after our edible plants. This includes the natives puuhaa (sowthistle), kawakawa (pepper tree), kookihi (NZ spinach), and tii koouka (cabbage tree).
As we got to know Tupu-aa-nuku and we engaged with her taonga, Kawakawa. Our tamariki shared that they use kawakawa balm at home, so we decided to make some of our own balms as part of Matariki, and as a fundraiser.
Making the balm was a wonderful learning experience for our curious explorers. We shared koorero around the tikanga, harvesting the leaves, doing karakia, and drying them at the centre. We had some of our tuakana who were very excited to use their senses, curiously learning about the shape, taste, smell, and feel of the leaves. We crunched the leaves, added oil, and then through one-on-one support, we created a double boiler over the stove in the kitchen. The magic of the leaves infused with the oil, as we left our oil brewing for 3 hours, before straining and adding beeswax pellets to return to the stove for our balm. Our tamariki helped label our containers and were supported to pour their own balms.
Our whaanau all enjoyed the fruits of our labor at our Matariki whaanau kaitahi.