Thousands of generations; histories differ by community
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the First Peoples of Australia, maintain one of the oldest living cultures in the world. Archaeological research points to more than 60,000 years of habitation. Before European colonisation there were more than 250 languages, each with its own land, Country, and its own knowledge.
The Torres Strait Islanders, from the islands between Australia and Papua New Guinea, have their own Melanesian culture, which differs from that of Aboriginal people on the mainland.
Colonisation from 1788 brought disease, violence, loss of land and the removal of children from their families. Much knowledge was lost or hidden. From the 1970s Aboriginal communities took healthcare back into their own hands. In 1971 the first Aboriginal Medical Service was founded in Redfern, Sydney.
Herbs in this tradition (11)
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Māori knowledge passed down across generations
Rongoā Māori is the traditional healing system of Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand. It includes herbal remedies (rongoā rākau), treatment of the body such as mirimiri (massage) and spiritual care with karakia (prayers and incantations). The knowledge was passed on orally.
When the Polynesian ancestors of Māori arrived by canoe some seven hundred years ago, they found a plant world that was largely new to them. Over generations of careful observation they built up knowledge of native plants such as kawakawa, harakeke, mānuka and kōwhai. When Europeans arrived, an extensive system of care already existed, with knowledge of the body and of the healing power of plants.
Colonisation brought new diseases, loss of land and pressure to follow European medicine. In 1907 parliament passed the Tohunga Suppression Act, aimed at tohunga who healed by appealing to spiritual powers. Strikingly, the law was supported by influential Māori, including the physician Māui Pōmare and the politician Āpirana Ngata, out of concern about charlatans and public health. There were few convictions, but rongoā disappeared from view and some tohunga stopped passing on their knowledge. The law was only repealed in 1962.
Herbs in this tradition (9)
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Thousands of years; practices differ by island and community
Kava (Piper methysticum) is a shrub of the pepper family whose root yields a mildly numbing drink. The plant was probably domesticated thousands of years ago in Vanuatu and spread across the Pacific with Polynesian and Melanesian voyagers.
Kava is deeply woven into the cultures of Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Hawaiʻi and other islands. The drink has many names: yaqona in Fiji, ʻava in Samoa, ʻawa in Hawaiʻi.
Europeans came to know kava during the voyages of James Cook in the eighteenth century. In 1786 the naturalist Georg Forster gave the plant its scientific name, which means “intoxicating pepper”.
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Predates 1778; recognised again after long suppression
Lāʻau lapaʻau is the traditional plant medicine of Native Hawaiians. The Polynesian voyagers who settled Hawaiʻi brought plants they needed in their canoes: the “canoe plants”, such as ʻawa, kukui, noni, ʻōlena and kī.
The healers, kahuna lāʻau lapaʻau, were trained for decades. They knew the plants, the prayers and diagnosis, and had high status.
After the arrival of Western missionaries in 1820 and the spread of Christianity, traditional medicine was suppressed. The laws of Hawaiʻi punished kahuna who practised healing with fines or imprisonment; only lomilomi, massage, remained permitted. Only in 1988 did the US Congress recognise lāʻau lapaʻau in the Native Hawaiian Health Care Act.
Herbs in this tradition (7)
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Māori knowledge across generations; honey as a modern heritage product
Mānuka (Leptospermum scoparium) is a shrub or small tree that grows throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, from the coast to the mountains. For Māori, mānuka is a taonga, a treasured possession, connected with Tāne, the atua of the forest.
The hard wood was used for tools, weapons, paddles, palisades and firewood. The leaves, bark and resin were used in rongoā.
When James Cook visited New Zealand in the 1770s, his crew brewed tea from the leaves. That is why the plant is also called tea tree in English. In the twentieth century mānuka became world-famous for its honey.
Herbs in this tradition (4)
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