The new Italian renaissance and Tuwharetoa

Tu Tangata, Issue 23, 1 April 1985, Page 22

The new Italian renaissance and Tuwharetoa

Professor Titonui

In his fourth article on the Maori impact on world history, Professor Titonui shows that history isn’t just about what happened in the past it’s being made every day. And right now Ngati Tuwharetoa are changing Italian history with an exciting new agricultural enterprise. You don’t hear of many people selling refrigerators to the Eskimoes or camels to the Arabs, but a highly resourceful new venture in the central North Island is doing the next best thing selling spaghetti to the Italian! It all began when the Ministry of Works hydro project at Turangi began to wind down. When it started there had been an employment boom not only for the local Ngati Tuwharetoa people but for workers from all over, even Italy. Gangs of experienced Italian tunnellers were brought in to help with the scheme. They soon settled into the mushrooming township of Turangi. Many have married New Zealanders, brought up New Zealand families and become New Zealand citizens. But they maintain their own traditions as much

as possible, ana when it comes to food they still enjoy pasta, a staple of the Italian national diet. With redundancy looming one group of tunnellers formed a co-operative to manufacture their own pasta. They approached the Ngati Tuwharetoa Trust Board and clinched a deal for the lease of 2,000 hectares west of Pihanga. They provided the idea and the expertise; Tuwharetoa provided the land and the labour. Now the Department of Maori Affairs stepped in to make its own inspired contribution at the marketing level. “I knew immediately,” recalls the then secretary of Maori Affairs, “that the name of the game was international. I had been a little sceptical, I must admit. It wasn’t that I doubted their ability to grow pasta trees, but I was nervous of their ability to market their product. Anyway, we discussed the problem at a special Tuwharetoa summit I think it was Tongariro

and decided to aim for the top: we should try to break into the Italian market.” ‘‘And where was the capital”, I asked him. He looked at me strangely. ‘‘Why, Rome of course”. ‘‘There was opposition from Italian producers, naturally, but they soon realised that our product complemented theirs, it wasn’t in competition. Thanks to the unusual mixture of high altitude, pumice soil and prevailing northerlies our trees mainly spaghetti, ravioli and lasagne produced crops with a highly distinctive flavour. And of course we could provide a fresh crop, being in the Southern Hemisphere, between Italian harvests.” I was taken in a Fiat 4-wheel drive vehicle to watch progress at the Tuwharetoa pasta farm. It was an impressive sight, with seemingly endless rows of trees, their pasta fronds ripening in the sun and waving in the breeze almost in unison. The head of the Italian co-operative and also quality control manager, Mr A 1 Dente, explained how it worked. “The pasta is harvested in summer. The trees grow big, as you can see. To harvest the pasta we Italians have always used ladders but our Maori pickers prefer simply to stand tall. The spaghetti is laid out to dry in the sun and then cut to length. The short lengths are taken by truck across to the Wattie cannery in Hawke’s Bay, but the bulk of the crop is destined for Italy or the United States. We are experimenting with different types of pasta and have found that the robust varieties grow best here. It is marketed under our special brand name ‘Nokeroa’, whatever that means.” He went on to say, in his attractively broken English, that results so far were very satisfactory and had made him “very hepi”. It’s not just that money is flooding into the Tuwharetoa coffers and employment is up again. There is a new pride to be seen in the district. In Turangi mall the ghettoblasters are now playing La Traviata instead of Bob Marley; gondolas are replacing motor launches on Taupo; and the Forest Service has begun to plant in Lombardy poplars. There are worrying signs, however. The Mafia is said to be taking an interest in the region. This cannot be confirmed, though U.S. Narcotics agents have reported that rainbow trout are changing hands on the New York streets for $7,000 per kilo.

Next issue, the first Maori technocrat