Our vision: This project takes place on lands stolen from mana whenua (local indigenous peoples) deforested and stripped of its native habitat due to agricultural colonisation, particularly livestock and dairy production. The land is also close to a regional park that shows us, on our daily walks, how diverse, fueling, healing and vibrant the forests used to be. We seek to elevate the healing of land and communities by bringing back a thriving biodiversity to Tane Mahuta (Deity of the Forests), food for the birds and a vibrant soil food web. We will transform ecosystems to enable local Indigenous communities to return to their cultural foodways of nature.  

Being a good descendant: Recloaking our Earth Mother, Papatūānuku will enable us to fulfil our obligations as her descendants and will enliven Indigenous Māori food ways to enable a return to the eating of our cultural landscapes as Indigenous communities. This type of land regeneration is an antidote to the prevailing settler colonial norms of mechanised agriculture and the extractive logics of capitalism. This is more than simply land regeneration, this is a project about thriving Indigenous communities holding spirit and place with nature. 

Our Values  - Leading by the values of our ancestors
Regenerating Indigenous Healing Grounds is a values-led project, guided by the infinite wisdom of our tūpuna (ancestors) and our debt to them for the gifts they have brought us. We bring the values of:

🔹 Aroha ki a Papatūānuku - love and compassion for our Earth Mother
🔹 Mana Wahine - acknowledging the creative and connective powers of Indigenous women 
🔹 Tauutuutu - reciprocal obligations to enhance the wellbeing of the other
🔹 Whanaungatanga - the weaving and binding of communities 
🔹 Rangatiratanga - Indigenous self determination 
