Tukua ki kā raki – Release to the skies

Written by Essie van Zuylen

Ko wai au? He mihi | Who am I? A greeting

Ko te mihi tuatahi ki ō tātou mātua tawhito, ki a Rakinui e tū nei rāua ko Papatūānuku e takoto nei, tēnā kōrua.

The first greeting to our primeval ancestors, to Rakinui who stands above and Papatūānuku who lies beneath us.

I te taha o tōku māmā, he uri ahau nō Kāi Tahu, nō Ngāti Kahungunu. I te taha o tōku pāpā, nō Holland ōku tīpuna. Ko Essie May Van Zuylen tōku ikoa.

On my mother’s side, I am a descendant of Kāi Tahu and Ngāti Kahungunu. On my father’s side, my ancestors are from Holland. My name is Essie May Van Zuylen.

He kaimātai koiora o kā mea iti ahau. He tauira o tō tātou reo rakatira hoki.

I am a Microbiologist. I am also a student of our chiefly language.

Tēnā koe!

When prompted to write this piece, I intially thought to introduce myself as a researcher – this is, after all, a call to research. But I paused and asked - who am I really, in this work? I’m a researcher, āe, but also a daughter, sister, friend, whaea, and hoa rakatira. Like all of us, I am a complex human being. By bringing my full self to this kaupapa, my personal and research journeys unite. Let me start from the beginning.

Nohopuku | Be still

Since 2016, I have worked as a researcher and, over time, became my own subject. Earlier this year, I was fortunate to participate in the Tū Wairua phase one clinical trial, assessing the workability and acceptability of psilocybin-assisted therapy in a marae setting. I describe this experience as ‘the beginning’ because, though it may sound cliché, it felt like being reborn. I was familiar with psilocybin mushrooms, but never with the korowai of support like that provided to me at Rangiwaho marae.

Although outwardly lying peacefully in my bed set in one corner of the wharenui, in my mind’s eye, I stood atop our ancestral mauka, Tuhua. From this vantage point, I could see it all. Years of shame, grief, mamae. Not knowing my whakapapa, not knowing my reo, the intergenerational weight of this overwhelming sadness. Yet, through this experience, a profound sense of responsibility emerged, one that called me to not only acknowledge these emotions, but to transform them into obligations.

Under Raki’s hazy cloak, twinkling whetu and the moonrise of Hina beaming over our whenua, Te Waipounamu, I saw bonds and connections, honoka - like mycelial threads. I felt the notches of a rākau whakapapa, moving up the generational chain. The mana of wāhine on my mother’s side lifted me up, while the tāne held steadfast in the background. Visitations from tīpuna and Atua. Tāne and Hinepūtehue. Never before had I felt as kaha, grounded, and authentic. It was time to begin again. But how did I get here?

Tāku ara rakahau | My research path, the questing breath of life

In 2019, I presented my PhD research at an Ira Rakahau Māori genetics wānaka at Ōtakou Whakaihu Waka, University of Otago. I was nervous, my mind rushing ahead of my words. Before, I had practised it to perfection. I gestured to the PowerPoint. The image showed my PhD focus: the anaerobic bacterial pathogen, Fusobacterium nucleatum. Beautiful bacterial biofilms, captured in high detail. After working three years on the microbe, and with the help of a powerful scanning electron microscope, I had finally seen my friend in all its rod-shaped glory.

After the kōrero, a kuia raised her hand and referred to the biofilm images, nonchalantly asking, ‘Essie, can bacteria communicate as a whānau?’. I paused – science hadn’t prepared me for this. Was she talking about quorum sensing? Or something more, like ‘Haere mai ki te kai!’. The pātai stayed with me and, in hindsight, set in motion my research direction. Later, with a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous colleagues, we proposed an ethical framework on the concept of relationality with microbes, extending notions of kinship to the unseen world (Bader et al., 2023).

From my PhD research: Fusobacterium nucleatum biofilms, the image in question.

Tēnei kaupapa | This project

The next step came during my postdoc in a fungal biology lab at Te Whare Wānaka o Waitaha, University of Canterbury. I began to synthesise my interests in te ao pūtaiao and te ao Māori. The idea for this project was conceived, funded, and has evolved since. The primary aim of this kaupapa is to deepen our understanding of the cultural and biological significance of Aotearoa’s native psychoactive fungi, integrating Mātauraka Māori and science. This case study aims to reveal how respecting taoka species beyond legal and scientific conventions, by acknowledging their inherent mauri, we recognise their full potential to enhance both cultural knowledge and research impact.

Whare Atua, a.k.a. Psilocybe weraroa, one of our native psychoactive fungi growing from decaying rākau. The first find while attending this year’s NZ Fungal Foray ki Urenui, Taranaki.

Past research has shown that Māori had wide knowledge and uses for native fungi, including for kai, rongoā, fire-carrying, and tā moko (Fuller et al., 2005; Fuller, 2009, 2009b). However, there is still much to be understood about our psychoactive fungal species. This rakahau supports collective efforts nationwide to elicit a mauri of change and inform culturally-grounded contemporary approaches to mental health care for whānau.

He karaka | A call

How can we reconstruct a whakapapa? Kōrero ki kā tākata. Talk to the people.

We are working alongside mana whenua, kairokoā, and tohuka to learn about the cultural, biological and genomic whakapapa of Aotearoa’s native psychoactive fungi. We are seeking kōrero from Māori, 18 or older, living in Aotearoa, with experience or knowledge of NZ native fungi. This includes Rongoā Māori practitioners, Tohunga, Matakite, and whakapapa experts for interviews. If this is you, please get in touch! We want to hear from you.

Haere tonu | Continue

While visiting Te Tairāwhiti, the day before my nohopuku experience, I found myself at the Tairāwhiti museum, poring over a taoka pūoro exhibit. One kōauau caught my eye. Its name was ‘Tukua ki ngā rangi’, made by Arumaki Pasene-Grennell. A pūtakitaki that commands attention and elicits a sharp, penetrating oro. I took the taoka home and it accompanied me to Rangiwaho the next day. In the throes of my nohopuku, as I mourned my losses and our collective grief, the kaitieki instructed me softly,‘Tukua ki ngā rangi, Ess’,‘Release it to the skies’. Now, when I see this taoka on my mantle, it reminds me to release, let go, pause, acknowledge kā atua when I notice their essence, and invest in my hauora hinekaro.

Ko ‘Tukua ki ngā rangi’ tēnei. Nā Arumaki Pasene-Grennell i haka.

Initially, I believed I could remain objective in this research – separate from the people, places, and mātauraka I would encounter. I now understand full engagement is needed. I can’t extricate myself from this kaupapa, as by engaging with it, I’m also undertaking my own decolonial healing journey. I was hesitant to share this writing and, in a state of kaiponu, I withheld it for some time, but now I hope that in doing so, it will encourage others to share their own healing pūrākau and aspirations for these taoka harore.

Whakakapi | Closing

“And so, wherever you go, you're in service to harore, the tamariki of ngā Atua. Of the whakapapa of Io, to which you are akin yourself.” – Interview with a Tohunga, June 2025

Dr Essie Van Zuylen (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu) is a Microbiologist based at the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha, University of Canterbury, NZ. Essie is supported by a Ngā Puanga Pūtaiao research fellowship (Te Apārangi, Royal Society) titled ‘Ngā harore pōhewanga o Aotearoa; The psychoactive mushrooms of New Zealand, understanding our fungal taonga species’.

If you’re interested in participating, want more information, or would like to share your whakaaro, please contact: essie.vanzuylen@canterbury.ac.nz