Physical therapies in 19th century Aotearoa/New Zealand: Part 1 – Māori physical therapies

Abstract

This paper is the first of three reporting on a historiographic study of physical therapies in 19th century Aotearoa/New Zealand. This first paper focuses on traditional Māori healing practices. The paper begins by setting out the parameters for the study and outlining the role that massage and manipulation, electrotherapy, hydrotherapy and remedial exercise played in societies around the world prior to the 20th century. We then explore traditional Māori physical therapies, focusing on two broadly ‘orthopaedic’ conditions (fractures and back pain), before examining accounts of two predominant forms of physical therapy: massage and the use of Aotearoa/New Zealand’s abundant thermal springs. We conclude the paper by examining the cultural shift that took place with colonisation after 1840, and consider the effect that this shift had on Māori physical therapy practices prior to 1900.