| You are currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and that there are some features you can't use or read. We are an active community of worldwide senior members participating in chat, politics, travel, health, blogging, graphics, computer issues & help, book club, literature & poetry, finance discussions, recipe exchange and much more. Also, as a member you will be able to access member only sections, many features, send personal messages, make new friends, etc. Registration is simple, fast and completely free. Why not register today and become a part of the group. Registration button at the very top left of the page. Thank you for stopping by. Join our community! In case of difficulty, email worldwideseniors.org@gmail.com. If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| Bountiful gift from Tane Mahuta, god of the forest; NZ Wood Pigeon - Kereru | |
|---|---|
| Topic Started: Jan 12 2007, 12:04 AM (144 Views) | |
| Kahu | Jan 12 2007, 12:04 AM Post #1 |
|
Bountiful gift from Tane Mahuta, god of the forest The Dominion Post | Saturday, 30 December 2006 Kereru Image , Morning bird chorus There are other links on this page too - the talking Tui and others (see bar right hand side top). Take away New Zealand's sheep, pluck the cows from Taranaki paddocks, empty the barns of their pigs and chickens and then look around for dinner. In the absence of any land mammals other than bats, Maori were forced to look to the forest for food. And top of the list of tasty bounty were the plump and plentiful pigeons that gathered wherever there were fruiting trees. "If you didn't live near the sea they would have been your primary food source," Te Papa bicultural science programme developer Hokimate Harwood says. "They are so high in fat they would feed quite a lot of people. And they were so plentiful. There were flocks of thousands." Maori have been hunting kereru since they first arrived in New Zealand. Some iwi - especially Ngapuhi, Ngati Hine, Tuhoe, Ngati Raukawa, Ngati Porou, Ngati Tuwharetoa, Whanganui, Te Atiawa, and Ngai Tahu - have a strong connection to the bird. Like most things in the Maori world, kereru have a spiritual significance and are prominent in myth and legend. Even hunting is a spiritual affair, prefaced by karakia, or prayers. The first bird taken is offered back to Tane Mahuta, the god of the forest. Maori developed a strong understanding of kereru and their ecology and habits. Each iwi would have special trees or areas they used for hunting and a team with the specific task of catching kereru. And the birds were not caught willy-nilly at just any time of the year. Harvest was restricted to when miro and kahikatea were in fruit, because birds gorging themselves on the sweet berries made for the best eating. "Any other time they would not taste as nice," Ms Harwood says. Several methods were used to pluck the pigeons from their perches. Some iwi used a wooden trough, called a waka kereru. As its name suggests, the trap is a kind of small dugout canoe, usually made from totara, placed on a stand or in the fruiting tree itself. The trough worked like a backyard bird feeder, only with a nasty twist. As the parched kereru perched on the edge of the dugout and stretched their bright bills to quench their thirst, they became caught in one of the lines of cabbage tree or flax nooses placed around the edges. "It's placed in the tree or near the tree on a stand. The berries are high in sugar, it's like drinking wine. They get drunk and get thirsty." Not the brightest of birds, they would thrash around trying to escape, pulling the noose gradually tighter till they strangled themselves. But not all iwi used the troughs to claim their prey. East Coast iwi placed the nooses on branches, forcing the kereru to walk through them to get to the berries. Those with a more sporting spirit used birding spears, called taha or taharoa, usually made from tawa. There were two types of spear. One had a lethal point at the end, the other a detachable barb, often fashioned from bone, which could be reeled back in once lodged in the bird. Spearing birds required considerable skill, clambering up towering 60-metre kahikatea to get close enough to strike, and knowing where the birds were feeding at any time, Ms Harwood says. Once caught, some kereru were cooked fresh in a hangi, or roasted in clay. But because kereru could be killed only during a short period of the year, the tribes needed a way of preserving them to spin out the eating. Decorated gourds on tripod stands adorned the front of the marae pataka, or storehouse. Inside were kereru preserved by cooking in their own fat and juices, prolonging their edible life for up to a year. Some iwi kept the meat to give to honoured guests. In other tribes women and children got first dibs on the best meat. Inland tribes traded kereru with coastal iwi, swapping them for seafood. Iwi would take up to 5000 kereru a year. The whole bird would be used - the green neck feathers and glossy white breast feathers were made into cloaks and even the feet were boiled by some iwi to create a pigment to decorate their cheeks. Maori settlement was the first step in the decline of the kereru. The first settlers brought with them kiore, which competed with kereru for food. At the same time, hunting and land clearance depleted populations. But when Europeans arrived with muskets and pests, that decline escalated, Ms Harwood says. "They were no longer being shot to be eaten, they were just shot as sport." Maori no longer have the same relationship with kereru as when they were everywhere and a critical food source, Ms Harwood says. However, they are still treasured. Though some iwi believe it is their cultural right to hunt the birds, other iwi have taken the lead in conservation projects. |
![]() |
|
| Deleted User | Jan 12 2007, 01:23 AM Post #2 |
|
Deleted User
|
Hunting for survival is understandable to me. I can't see the 'sport' in killing anything. I'm not aware of anyone shooting pigeons around here. But some municipalities are forever looking for ways to send them elsewhere. |
|
|
| Kahu | Jan 12 2007, 09:34 AM Post #3 |
|
The descision to hunt is also partly a political response too Jezzie. Part of the Treaty of Waitangi effectively says that Maori have undisputed rights to traditional food supplies. The majority view though is for conservation, I think! |
![]() |
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| « Previous Topic · Pets & Wildlife · Next Topic » |






9:18 PM Jul 11