Nō Hea Mātou?

The whakataukī, ‘he kai kei aku ringa’ literally translates to mean, ‘there is food in my hands.’

However, we learned from our discussions with whānau that the whakataukī (proverb) reflects a much broader understanding of kai (food) and Māori kai systems than this.

Funded by the Health Promotion Agency Te Hiringa Hauora, He Kai Kei Aku Ringa began as a project to develop a resource to support parents in feeding their tamariki during their first thousand days of life. The first thousand days is an especially crucial time of child development.

Led by Māori healthy agency, Toi Tangata, the project was reframed under the concept, He Kai Kei Aku Ringa. As a result, this placed the kaupapa within a mātauranga Māori frame of reference.

It also shifted the kaupapa from isolating certain time periods (the first thousand days) and certain relationships (parent and child). Consequently, this allowed us to be more inclusive.

We wanted to speak to:

• Māori concepts of time - for instance, those which are imagined across thousand-year periods.
• Māori concepts of whānau - for example, those which extend beyond the nuclear family to ancestors that are both human and more-than-human, such as Atua and tuākana.
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Te Tukanga

Grounding the kaupapa (project) in te ao Māori was a great opportunity to acknowledge a Māori approach from the start. So, we undertook a co-design process, engaging with around 24 whānau who shared their understandings of ‘he kai kei aku ringa,’ and what that looked like in their daily lives.

The stories they shared showed us that the ways whānau interpreted the whakataukī are very broad and involved interactions with a number of groups.

These interactions included:

• The self - including taha hinengaro (mind), taha wairua (spirit), taha tinana (body), taha ngākau (heart/soul) etc
• Our wider whānau - including our whānau, hapū, hāpori (community)
• Atua - including the taiao (environment) and Atua (Māori deities).

We wanted this resource to reflect the broad ways in which our whānau understand and engage with Māori food systems. So, we let whānau share their experiences of kai from the context of their own realities.

Allowing whānau to share their stories of food in the broader context of their lives, we get to see, in real-time, the pressures of daily life, the ways that whānau move through these pressures, and how kai is able to occupy space within their worlds.

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Kai Cards

He rautaki kai tēnei mō te 4 wiki, e 5 hoki ngā tohutaka i ia wiki.

I ia wiki, he rārangi kai whakauru hei ārahi i tō hoko kai mō te wiki.

Kei ia kāri tētahi whakarāpopotonga o ngā kai whakauru, he tohutaka me ētahi pikitia hei ārahitanga i a koe e tunu ana, ā, he kōrero taioranga hoki e whanake ai te mōhiotanga taioranga o ngā whānau.

Tīwhiri: Ko ētahi kai whakauru he mea e kaha kitea ana i ngā kāinga, nō reira tirohia mēnā kei a koe i mua tonu i te hoko.

Download Te Reo Kai Cards

Download Te Reo Shopping List

Download Māori Glossary

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Ngā Kiriata

We travelled from Auckland to Tauranga, from Gisborne to Te Teko and all the way down to Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui, Wellington, filming a collection of six whānau which represented a range of lived experiences.

Our five-part short film series explores the broad ways in which whānau understand and engage with Māori food systems, and how these understandings influence their everyday kai practice.

Our goal is to share the stories of our whānau far and wide so they can affirm and support you and others to continue on your own journeys towards being in better relationships with our kai (and all that that entails).

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Film Tahi | Jasmine

Jasmine is a midwife and a mother to five children. She sees health as a holistic endeavour that is connected to all the ways in which we are in a relationship with the natural world, with our communities, and with our bodies.

‘He kai kei aku ringa’ for her reflects the hands of Papatūānuku, our primordial mother, providing nourishment for those who need it. She reflects on her own role as a mother, the times during which she persevered for the betterment of her children.

She learned how important it was to build relationships with her community and how to advocate for herself. In her work as a midwife, Jasmine shares this same learning with expectant parents in the hopes that they can advocate for themselves through the process of pregnancy, birth, and child rearing.

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Film Rua | Tiana

Tiana and her husband, Brad, are parents to a beautiful daughter. They are also both dedicated athletes with an in-depth awareness of how good nutrition can enhance their athletic performance.

Supporting their own nutritional needs, as well as that of their growing baby girl is a challenge because of their demanding schedules. Tiana leans on some important practical tikanga to ensure she is maintaining a good balance.

‘He kai kei aku ringa’ for her reflects an attitude of courage. The courage to be an opportunist - taking hold of the knowledge and skills shared with her by her whānau across and between generations. With this, courage extends beyond food, into our relationships, sporting opportunities or careers.

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Film Toru | Te Ara Hou

Te Ara Hou is a mother of three, and a new student at Toihoukura, a Māori visual arts school. She and her whānau recently made the big move away from her childhood home in Porirua to Gisborne. Raising her tamariki in a new environment and in the context of a supportive wider commuity has made a huge difference in Te Ara Hou’s life as she heals from past traumatic experiences.

While circumstances can change from week to week raising three energetic tamariki, school, and the demands of everyday life, the quality of food can often be a luxury to think about.  Nevertheless, Te Ara Hou is doing the best she can by her tamariki.

‘He kai kei aku ringa’ for her is a calling of encouragement; a calling for her to keep reaching out for more; to fill hers hands with the skills needed to collect the kai that’s available at hand.

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Film Wha | Alex

Alex has lived in the West Auckland community for the last 20 years. Living in such a demanding urban centre means Alex is constantly walking a fine line between meeting the material and cultural needs of his whānau. The demands of working life mean there are fewer and fewer spare hours in the day – certainly not enough for Alex to grow and gather his own food.

When asked what ‘he kai kei aku ringa’ means to Alex, he discusses the presence of hākari (large structures for displaying feasts of food) used in former times as indicators of a hapu’s ability to feed their people. This set of circumstances presents both a challenge and an opportunity for Alex to think about how we might use technology, in the way of vertical, indoor or micro gardens to enable the continuation of manaakitanga.

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Film Rima | Ebony

Ebony has been planting and harvesting kumara in the small town of Te Teko her whole life. The practice from start to finish, has been passed down through her whānau for generations, as have many other life lessons.

Ebony reflects on ‘he kai kei aku ringa’ as attaining the knowledge and experience to produce sustenance from the land. Her vision is an intergenerational one. In passing on the knowledge and tikanga of food growing, gathering, hunting and harvesting to her tamariki, Ebony knows that she is ensuring the continuatio of  her whakapapa.  

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Kaitautoko