Cultivation / Mahinga Māra

Kumara, taro and hue (gourds). The ancestors of our people brought these crops from tropical Polynesia, braving thousands of kilometres of ocean to plant their roots in the new land of Aotearoa.

At Mangere Mountain Education Centre we keep the traditions of Māori agriculture alive. In our māra (gardens) you can see these crops growing here, talk to the people who are tending them, and even get a taste of the food that has been cultivated here (if you visit during the right season).

History is a living thing at Mangere Mountain. Visit the ancient kumara sites identified by archaeologists, and then see how they are grown in the same soil in the 21st century.