At 13 years old, Te Owai Edmonds has her own hunting and fishing YouTube channel, has travelled most of the country and provides kai for community events.
Her father, Lee Edmonds, has been taking Te Owai on pig hunts, fishing and diving adventures for the past 10 years.
What Te Owai loves most about what she does isn't just bailing up huge boars that are heavier than her or catching snapper that are bigger than her. Instead, it’s being able to speak in her native language on her show and sharing her spoils with family and the community of Maketu during these tough Covid times.
When Te Ao Mārama asked Te Owai, (Ngāti Pikiao Te Arawa, Te Whānau ā Apanui, Ngāpuhi) if other young girls hunt, fish and dive as well, she replied, "Absolutely, get out there and do it. Get out of the house and get in that bush or the ocean because it's cool".
Te Owai Edmonds with her hunting friend
Te Owai’s YouTube channel ‘Mahikai me Te Owai’ is a diary of her day-to-day adventures and a digital photo album for future memories.
It was her father’s idea for a Youtube channel with Te Owais’s brother, Whanarua Edmonds, on camera and editing.
Lee said, “Te Owai was so rapt when she carried her first pig, she didn’t want me and her mum to wash the blood out of her hair. She wanted to go back to kura and show all of the boys that she could actually match them”.
From then on, he knew his daughter had a big passion for gathering kai.
'Gathering for my community'
Te Owai was also quick to stamp out people’s ideas of kai gathering being a job that involves stinky smells from baiting fish to blood wor hen gutting a pig,
“A lot of people think most of the time it is not good because of the smells and the blood. But I know why I am there and why I’m doing it. Gathering for my community and family goes beyond smells and blood.”
The Edmonds family lives in Maketu. The ocean and forests are their food cupboards, helping in these pandemic times.
“Work is hard to come by in some communities and sometimes the pay is not enough,” Lee said. “If you teach your children to gather kai, well, that’s one problem they don’t have to deal with. They will always be fed and have the ability to feed other people.”
Te Owai: “I love it when I and my family go gathering food for other families and those of the community and also bereaved families during funerals.”
In the near future Te Owai hopes to learn about Māori medicines. She also wants to learn about the Māori star system and astronomy.
But, for now, she is getting the whānau diving gear ready, the sea is calm so it’s time for another kina and crayfish hunt to feed the whānau and community - and this is just the way Te Owai wants to spend her weekends.