Āhuatanga (cultural characterization); supporting the conservation of traditional kūmara (sweetpotato) and taewa (Māori potato) varieties in Aotearoa / New Zealand

Kūmara and taewa are two of many traditional crops cultivated by the indigenous Māori of Aotearoa / New Zealand. Most, if not all the traditional varieties of these two crops have been superseded by the introduction of modern, higher producing crops. Furthermore, pressures from contemporary issues such as climate change is also impacting the existence and maintenance of traditional crops generally. Elsdon Best in his book ‘Maori Agriculture’ listed eighty-two pre-colonial kūmara varieties which were succeeded by later introduced high-yielding varieties. Most of the pre-European traditional kūmara varieties are now believed to have been totally lost despite attempts to collect and conserve them in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Āhuatanga is the cultural characterisation of traditional Māori crops like taewa and kūmara and involves the gathering and organising of traditional knowledge or data through a methodology based on cultural norms. In traditional Māori terms this is further known as ‘tātai’ or the layering of information and contributes to the overall āhuatanga. By undertaking this cultural characterization, the support to conservation and cultivation of these (and other) crops contributes to both food security and food sovereignty.

Key words: Cultural characterization, Māori, kūmara, taewa, conservation, food security