Donna Kerridge
on Rongoā Māori and Healing through Ancestral Wisdom
In the ngahere, healing begins. The forest is Donna’s medicine cabinet. Her treasure trove of cures made of plants, light, and birdsong.
An author, healer, and founder of Ora New Zealand.com, Donna Kerridge is a guardian of rongoā, the traditional Māori healing system. She advises institutions including the Global Compassion Coalition, the Elder Council for The Wellbeing Project, and the University of Auckland, yet her most enduring teachers are the ones born from the soil.
Rongoā blends rākau rongoā (native flora), mirimiri and romiromi (bodywork), whitiwhiti kōrero (support), and karakia (prayer). It is not symptom care. It is soul care. A way of seeing the world, of respecting the interdependence of all living beings.
Western medicine separates mind from body. Rongoā and te ao Māori, the Māori worldview, reunite them with mauri, our life essence, the wisdom that comes from being connected to each other and to the whenua, the land, with the help of the taiao, the natural world: "Mauri is like a candle that sits in the pit of our stomach. Sometimes that flame shines brightly, sometimes it can be dim. This is the reflection of our vitality. Mauri is the glue that joins the physical and spiritual realms so we can be whole. To be well, we must be whole.”
In her book Rongoā Rākau, Donna reflects: “Everybody on the planet today is the living face of their ancestors. They were the first to build a relationship with the natural world.” We can all draw on this precious library when “we slow down enough to hear the whispers of our ancestors.” Healing starts by asking the right question - not “What can this plant do for me?” but “What is your unique gift, plant?” Connection comes when we recognize the whanaunga, the kinship of life.
Illness is viewed by Māori as a symptom of disharmony with the natural world: when someone is sick, the tohunga, the healer, doesn't offer a diagnosis, but a question: Where is the disconnection? “For a person to heal, we take care of their mana, their self-esteem, and make sure all of those things that help keep them strong and more receptive to healing are in place first and foremost.”
Donna gently invites us to take more responsibility for our health rather than subcontracting it to the medical profession: “They can’t heal for us. Only we can heal ourselves.” It all starts with the realization that “we are all Indigenous to somewhere and carry ancestral wisdom in our bones.”
Sometimes, we need to learn the kōrero, the language of others, in order to understand our own. We come with gifts from our respective cultures that can help each other thrive and grow: "It’s through diversity that we are richer, not through our sameness.”
Read Donna Kerridge’s answers for Inspirators, and return to the forest's wisdom with curiosity, reverence, and awe.
Thank you, Donna, for being a Regenerative Healer!
#INSPIRATORS QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: Donna Kerridge
Company / Institution: Ora New Zealand
Title: Chief Bottle Washer (Tonotono)
Website: oranewzealand.com
LinkedIn profile: Donna Kerridge
Country of origin: Aotearoa New Zealand
Country you currently live in: Aotearoa New Zealand
Your definition of Regeneration: The root of regeneration is the art of maintaining balance in an ever-changing, evolving natural world. Working with nature in a way that cares for the health and wellbeing of our brothers and sisters, especially the tiniest living creatures and microbes that sustain us.
Regeneration is compromised when we take or consume more than we each need to be well. No one species is more important than another. We all have our role in the regeneration of another. Nothing exists in isolation, and nothing lives in isolation. When we overstep that mark, we threaten our own existence. Regeneration is achieved when balance, reciprocity, and gratitude are guiding principles in all that we seek and do.
Main business challenge you face: Making quality time with those who keep us afloat, our peers, our challengers and those who keep us inspired.
Main driver that keeps you going: Our life’s work is honouring our responsibility to our ancestors and our generations yet to be born by keeping alive the knowledge bequeathed to us so that we can live a life of abundance through balance and reciprocity. The world is in a state of constant change and reinvention, but there are key principles, the lore of nature, that we must embrace if we wish to continue to be a part of it.
The trait you are most proud of in yourself: I am a pragmatist with a healthy dose of optimism. We have a Māori proverb that reminds us that ‘Those who lead give sight to those who follow, those who follow give life to those who lead,’ and the fluidity with which we must work together. Leadership is not a constant, and nor is one person or species ever more important than another.
The trait you most value in others: Humour keeps us grounded.
Passions & little things that bring you joy: The joy of a baby’s smile and a good soak in thermal waters under a moonlit sky.
The Inspirators who determined you to take the regenerative path:
· Mrs Barbara Kingi - a very strict school headmistress who saw the potential behind the bravado of a disruptive 12-year-old and free thinker.
· Pā Rob McGowan, a gentle teacher of our traditional Māori ways of understanding the world and our place in it.
· The many Aunties who sustained our cultural teachings and upheld the standards for their next generation, no matter how unpopular that may have made them or unfair that it seemed to me at times.
A starting point for companies or professionals that are beginning the regeneration journey: Reconnect with your ancestral roots. There lie the answers to all our questions and a light for the way ahead. We are all indigenous to somewhere, and we carry the knowledge we need to sustain us in our bones and DNA. For anything to be professionally relevant, it must first be personally relevant and only then will the passion that drives excellence ignite our potential.
Most used and abused clichés in sustainability that bother you: Cliches don’t bother me, only the underlying lack of authenticity/integrity with which they are shared.
An honest piece of advice for young people who lose hope: Every race on earth has been colonised by another at some point and endured seemingly unforgivable atrocities. Nothing we face today is more difficult than the challenges our ancestors endured on our behalf. It only takes one seed to unleash its potential in the world to bring change. Let that seed be you, no matter how small.
Books that had a great impact on you / Must-Reads for any regenerative professional:
· Coming Back to Earth: From Gods, to God, to Gaia by Lloyd Geering
· Oneness vs the 1% by Vandana Shiva & Kartikey Shiva)
· Tiwaiwaka by Rob McGowan
Movies / Documentaries you would watch all over again: I am not a great movie buff, but I'd say Avatar! The theme wasn’t new, but its artistic flair has planted a seed within a whole generation of our youngest people about the importance of interconnectedness and responsibility to care for each other.
Websites / Podcasts you visit frequently: I am not a great website or podcast fan, I prefer to be in the space of people themselves - old school!
Music that makes you (and your heart) sing: Albatross by Fleetwood Mac and the rhythms and harmonies of Lady Blacksmith Mambazo.
Places you travelled to that left a mark on you: Every place I have been privileged to travel to has taught me something profound, but Sri Lanka and Mexico are two standouts. Sri Lanka for the gentleness of the people and simplicity of thought. Mexico for their living memorials to the wisdom and huge intellect of the ancestors of different cultures.
Global Regenerative Voices you recommend us to follow:
· Vandana Shiva
· Pā Rob McGowan
· Anita Sanchez
Trends in Regeneration we should keep an eye on: Small initiatives that are local and transferable; initiatives that reconnect people to their ancestral roots, to a time when caring for the land and all that reside upon her was essential for survival.
Events we should attend / Best places for networking (online or offline): Global gatherings of indigenous peoples sharing their teachings and successes; gatherings where science and indigenous wisdom intersect rather than dominate one another.
Local gatherings with like-minded people that we see more than once a year to help feed our souls and sustain ourselves despite shared challenges.
Impactful and relevant Sustainable Development or Regeneration courses or certifications: I am not really into certifications; I am more into connections with like-minded people doing amazing stuff that inspires me!
Reasons to feel optimistic about our future in 2030: Our many youth who are committed to a better world and who are having a profound impact in their communities.
Reasons to feel pessimistic about our future in 2030: I always believe there are lessons in our mistakes and that we will learn about them one way or another, the hard way or the easy way, the choice is ours.
Regenerative Leadership qualities much needed today: Humility, resilience, respect.
The Inspirator(s) you are endorsing for a future edition:
· Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
· MacKenzie Feldman
· Tyne Nelson (a local regenerative, shy hero in Aotearoa)
The quote that inspires you:
"No one species is more important than another. We must give care to the tiniest living creatures, for they are the foundation that keeps and sustains all life." (Rob McGowan)
Your quote that will inspire us:
