On The Up: East Coast wāhine Tui Milner prepares for World Championship in Massage

Milner, a mother of five - aged 27, 25, 21, 7 and 6 - has practised mirimiri since 2016 and operates a small clinic in the suburb of Elgin in Gisborne.

“I came from a career as an accountant and swapped from the fast lane to stepping into hauora, which has been more rewarding for me and more purposeful,” Milner said.

“I have seen the impact it has made for our people and people of different cultures, people with mental health, people with alcohol abuse, debilitating illness or botched up surgery, [people who] have not been able to get some kind of comfort.”

Milner said people sought out rongoā Māori practitioners like herself because they knew it worked for them.

She is part of Te Kura Atuatiratanga, a Whakatāne-based kaupapa Māori organisation made up of independent tohunga.

“I studied under Wikitoria [Oman]. I did romiromi and mirimiri under her in Rotorua. Also, working under Te Kura Atuatiratanga, I’ve got the likes of Marie Stewart and Rita Tupe, all of those known tohunga and all of their mātauranga [knowledge] being worked around there.

“Māori mirimiri is very unique because each person inside of our framework comes with a different modality or gifting they work with.

“Because I come from the Coast, I work with sound and water.”

The organisation has partnered with others to deliver rural integrated health outreaches across the Bay of Plenty, Tūhoe, Waiāriki and East Coast areas.

There is strong demand for the practice in those regions- Gisborne was the third-largest source of claims for rongoā healing with the Accident Compensation Corporation in 2023 with 532 claims, behind higher population regions like Bay of Plenty at 588 and Waikato at 2074.

Māreikura, tohunga ahurewa and director Marie Stewart said Te Kura Atuatiratanga [The School of the Gods] was made up of independent tohunga, healers, kai mirimiri and up-and-coming young men and women who want to be involved in the development of rongoā.

“We travel where we are called to. Rather than waiting for people to come into a GP practice, doctor or hospital when it is too late, we are actually right there on their front doorstep.

“It is totally integrated, so we have the old ways of rongoā but we also integrate that with contemporary [rongoā practices].”

Stewart said it was exciting that event organisers had recognised their proposal and extended an invitation.

“Going to the competition is about a uniting of all different healing skills.

“The long-term goal of this journey is we take the gift of rongoā mirimiri integrated services to the world. The outcome of this total integration is about the unified approach of working with other indigenous models and other western models.”

Milner described how her practice worked.

“We’ve been working in the hauora [health] aspect of rongoā Māori to allow a person to have a safe space to begin their journey to start to heal in their tinana (body), their hinengaro (mindset) and in their wairua (spirit) because that is where the battle is,” she said.

“It is much more than going: ‘Is the pressure okay?‘”

Milner has deep whakapapa in Tairāwhiti and Tūranganui-a-Kiwa and rongoā runs in her blood. She said her whānau line went back to Tamatea-Ariki-Nui, captain and tohunga on the Takitimu waka.

“I’m a Tamatea from here in Tairāwhiti and I am a Milner from Ruatōria.”

“From Uncle Dwayne with basketball to Uncle Ron and my cousins Will and Kahu [rugby], all of those who have done great things for Tairāwhiti and [have been] representing Tairāwhiti well with our whānau."

Milner said travelling to represent New Zealand in an international competition made her feel proud.

“It is really about bringing awareness of different techniques of wellbeing and how, in the international world, we are helping in different communities from different countries.

“We’ve got a really good chance of bringing home a medal.”

She would like to see mirimiri get international recognition and would also like to teach and train those in the international community who are interested.

Milner said for her, as a kai mirimiri (mirimiri practitioner), mana motuhake meant that the tables in the hauora space were open to everyone.

The practice already has strong interest from non-Māori. Of the 6103 people who made claims through the Accident Compensation Corporation for rongoā healing in 2023, 59% were Māori while 41% were non-Māori.

“It is not just about Māori, it is about bringing everybody together. It is that unitedness,” she said.

“That is what going overseas to compete in the world massage championship is about. It is to show them simply that we unite and come as one mauri.”

The world championship features nine categories.

The team will compete in the wellness massage category, which encompasses hot stone, aromatherapy, spa massage, lymph drainage and holistic massage.

Specialist judges focus on examination, techniques, ergonomics and overall performance in each category for the preliminary rounds and finals.

“The techniques that you see here have all stemmed from mātauranga that has been handed down from the prophets throughout iwi, hapū, through our whakapapa,” Milner said.

“We want to give our people the opportunity to reach out for excellence. It can take you places. All you have to do is try. All you have to do is believe. All you have to do is unite.”

The team is not sponsored to travel to the competition, so it is fundraising.

“I appreciate anything anyone can do in the community, and I know we are going through a tough time. I am going to bend backwards to do this because I want to be an example for my community as a wāhine to stand when it counts.

“[I want to] honour my whakapapa, honour the people I value who believe in me, honour the people who karakia-ed for us, honour the people who had been there in the worst circumstances.”