Over the hedge at Papatūānuku Kōkiri Marae
“People are always curious about what’s behind the hedge. I say to them, ‘Haere mai! Come over the hedge and see what we’re about,” smiles Hineamaru Ropati.
She’s talking about Papatūānuku Kōkiri Marae, nestled behind a thick frame of green hedges and palm trees on Robertson Road in Māngere East. The marae sits on a two-acre plot and is home to a community māra kai (food garden) committed to educating whānau in Tāmaki Makaurau about food sovereignty and food sustainability.
Māra skills of our ancestors
Hineamaru is the chairwoman of Papatūānuku Kōkiri Marae Marae, but calls herself one of the marae’s kaitiaki (guardians). “We don’t get caught up in titles here,” she says. “Everyone pitches in and everyone still cleans the toilets,” she laughs.
“The driving purpose of our māra is
