Healing in the Maori tradition
As a former archaeologist, I have a penchant for traditional cultures and healing practices. One of my favourites is a Maori form of healing called RomiRomi and MiriMiri. I travelled to Aotearoa (New Zealand) with my family as a teenager, and the Land of the Long White Cloud worked its magic on me — I became enamoured of Maori culture. But this ancient modality would only appear in my life many years later. I didn’t seek it out, it found me — and it was at a time when I needed it the most.
RomiRomi is a form of bodywork or hands-on massage therapy that works with vital points in the body, known as the roimata (internal) and haemata (external) pressure points. The practitioner is skilled in reading emotional and physical blockages in the body and areas of trapped pain. They use various techniques, in a sequence of movements or intuitively, to release pressure and to open up space within the muscles and tissues.
It also works on a subtle, bioenergetic level (you can feel all kinds of energetic sensations). Our bodies are record keepers. They hold our historical archives and are etched with memories and emotions. Sometimes trauma and stress can show up physically and psychologically, in the form of aches and pain, or anxiety and depression.
According to psychiatrist and trauma researcher, Bessel Van Der Kolk, “physical self-awareness is the first step in releasing the tyranny of the past”. And this is where a form of bodywork like RomiRomi can be beneficial on both a physical and emotional level.
But despite the Treaty of Waitangi (New Zealand’s founding document between the Crown and Maori iwi tribes and hapu sub-tribes), colonisation left its mark. The Tohunga Suppression Act 1907 outlawed traditional Maori healing. The ban was finally lifted in 1962, and RomiRomi was eventually revived by Papa Hohepa Delamere.
Here, a Perth-based cultural practitioner is paving a new way forward for these ancient modalities. Gabrielle Walker, whose father is Maori and mother is non-Maori, grew up around her nan who practised MiriMiri.
“She was really influential in my life,” says Ms Walker.
“Where my nan was from, most people were jailed for practising it . . . and so a lot of people now still don’t really know about RomiRomi.
“You can’t have RomiRomi without MiriMiri. RomiRomi works within the body. It’s an invitation to see emotions and feelings in a different way. Whereas, MiriMiri works with things that are energetically and emotionally stagnant.”
Each appointment starts with a Korero MiriMiri (loving talk) which lasts between five to 30 minutes before the client moves onto the massage table for the treatment for about an hour. Every session is different and varies according to the person’s needs on the day (I can tell you I’ve laughed uncontrollably in some sessions and sobbed my eyes out in others).
Through her business, Wanderkind, Ms Walker has also developed a 400-hour certified Ako Torowhanui Maori healing training program, which has now had more than 50 Maori and non-Maori students graduate since 2019.
“Even though these practices are sacred, I believe it’s accessible to all. It’s part of our everyday lives, so life can be as sacred as we want it to be. And that’s important to me,” she says.
“If we just stick to one way of being, we're not expressing all of the potential of who we are.”
There is now more evidence for the benefit of body-based therapies in promoting greater health and vitality. If you’re looking for a complementary approach to supporting your wellbeing, these Maori healing arts might just work their magic on you, too.
This article was first published in The West Australian in Renée Gardiner’s weekly column in Agenda, 23 October 2021.