Rob TipaRob Tipa

Rob Tipa (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu) is a freelance journalist with more than 40 years’ experience as a reporter and editor. To reconnect with his Ngāi Tahu heritage, he researched a series of articles on traditional uses of New Zealand native plants that were on the Ngāi Tahu taonga plants list. This became a series of nearly 50 columns published in Te Karaka magazine over a period of ten years, and became the book Treasures of Tane: Plants of Ngāi Tahu, published by Huia in 2018.

Form, foliage and fragrance – celebrating the native plants of the South Island

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A new book looking at native plants of the South Island discusses their traditional Māori uses. The stories describe how Māori and Europeans grew and processed the plants, and uncovers some surprising uses. According to Rob Tipa, author of Treasures of Tāne: Plants of Ngāi Tahu, scientists are in many cases just now discovering the … Read more