NEW ZEALAND SILVER FERNS

There is no denying the silver fern (Cyathea dealbata) is one of our nations most recognised national symbols, but what is less recognised is its story of origin, its whakapapa kōrero.

In pre-European times Māori had many uses for this indigenous tree fern from the use of its trunk for building, foliage for bedding, sap for medical purposes and its spikes for small bird spears, but one of its every day uses was as a trail marker. By simply snapping, over-turning and exposing the silvery white underside of the silver fern leaf and pointing it like an arrow in the bush, it was a ready made trail pointer in an otherwise dark bush environment. It was also highly visible in moon-light or the light of rama (flaming torches) for travelling at night.

This use as a trail marker also features in the legend of Rahitutakahina, the basis of the Māori ball game ‘ki-o-rahi’ which some refer to as ‘Māori rugby’. In the legend a group of patupaiarehe (forest fairy people) snatch Rahi’s wife Tiarakurapakewai (Ti Ara) from her garden. Rahi makes a manu tangata (large person carrying kite) to pursue her and does so taking Ki, a small woven basket containing a moa egg, as sustenance. The kite crashes but Rahi is able to continue his pursuit to find Ti Ara as thoughtfully she had left a trail for him to follow by bending the ends of the fern leaf to reveal their silvery white underside – eventually she is found.

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