Iwi across Te-Matau-a-Maui, or Hawke's Bay, are making big investments in orchards, bringing whanau back to their whenua. They hope this will bring their people jobs.
Roimata King works at Ngati Pahuwera's Pakuratahi orchard near Tangoio, just north of Napier. She moved from an infant formula industry job in Waikato to join her whanau.
"I've got my grandmother who works here with me, I've got my sister, cousins," she said.
She said work such as this was all about improving Te Whare Tapa Wha - a Maori model that describes health as a wharenui, or meeting house - with four walls.
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There are four pillars to this: taha whanau, family wellbeing; taha wairua, spiritual wellbeing; taha hinengaro, mental/emotional wellbeing; and taha tinana, physical wellbeing.
"We look at ... working as a whanau for our iwi, we're taken back to our roots or the Maoritanga aspect of things where our family is important, our health is important," she said.
Buster Whaanga came to the orchard after he heard his cousin was working on the fields.
"My whanau is here, this is where all my whanau work here at Ngati Pahuwera. It's not far from home, a lot of jobs I work in the orchards it's in Hastings so it's a bit of a drive and who wouldn't want to work here? Look at this, it's pretty cool."
Ngati Pahuwera Development Trust chairman Toro Waaka said the iwi connection to the land was destroyed under colonisation. Now it was about bringing back the whenua, or land, for te tangata, the people.
"We've had our settlement and our vision is the health and wellbeing of our people now. We have moved into sectors like this because what we believe is the best way you can help is to help raise income levels."
About six months ago, the iwi bought some land in Raupunga - a tiny village of about 250 people between Napier and Wairoa.
Trust chief executive Robin Hape said it also planned to turn this into orchards for its people.
"Once we've got sustainable work then that provides sustainable livelihoods and then, from the trust perspective, we want to then provide housing for our people back in Mohaka-Raupunga [area], because they can then pay for all those things that they need to run a household, including home ownership."
Further up the coast, Tatau Tatau o Te Wairoa, a Treaty settlement group, was also investing in orchards for its people.
Group horticultural operation chairman Tom Keefe said there was lots of mahi going on. "Ten hectares planted last year, again that's of Envy [apples], the plan is to plant another 50 for this year then another hundred years after that."
He said it would hopefully give jobs that would change role models in these communities. "I need the kids to go to school, with a pair of shoes, before the parents get out of bed. At the moment, they come from households that are tough."
He said it was a "natural fit" for tangata whenua.
"We are people of the land, we've been horticulturists for generations, but not on this sort of commercial scale to the rest of the world.
"Maori were the first traders in New Zealand, they were transporting goods around the country and across the Tasman."
Waaka said it followed a simple kaupapa - working at the top of the cliff. "If we can provide them with jobs, provide them with good homes, there's no need to be going out and getting into criminal activities etc. Give them hope, give them a sense of purpose."
The first apples at the Pakuratahi orchard near Napier should be ready for picking in March.
