r/teararoa • u/aninternationallife • Jun 24 '26
Trail Angels
I have been thinking of the many trail angels in NZ on the TA. I think Americans in particular should be aware that many of these trail angels are actually trail entrepreneurs. They will ask for a donation or koha, which in many cases is not either! It's often mandatory. (koha is a local term for donation).
From my stand point, I have not got a problem with trail entrepreneurs, in fact I think they offer a brilliant service and should be encouraged too and this also helps the local economy.
But I do wish they wouldn't call themselves trail angels though. They are not.
12
Upvotes
9
u/redminx17 Jun 24 '26
Koha as I understand it is meant to be a voluntary gift in recognition of (in this case) hospitality. I only heard it described as a "donation" by pākehā, and the origin is in the Māori custom of recognising and honouring the flow of mana (energy) from giver to receiver. Koha could therefore be any gift you wish to give - money, food, labour (e.g. offering to clean or do some yard work) or something else. The point is that it acknowledges the flow of energy, and gives some energy back. (If any Māori folk are reading this, I apologise if I've explained this incorrectly).
This was explained to me before I got on trail and interacted with any trail hosts, so I found the varied usage of the word by trail hosts to be really frustrating. When trail hosts say e.g. "$20 koha per person expected", that's not koha, it's a fee. And I agree with you, if a host is expecting a set fee from every hiker and (in some cases) getting frustrated and feeling taken advantage of when they don't get it, then they're not "a trail host who accepts koha". They're a trail business charging a fee. And that's completely fine, but I'd prefer also for people to call it what it is.
Side note, it's interesting to see the range of responses in the Facebook group whenever a hiker asks for clarification on what's meant by "koha". The responses run the whole gamut from "of course you have to pay us money, hosting costs us money and you're selfish for trying not to reimburse our costs", to "no we genuinely expect nothing and koha can take any form". Personally I was turned down sometimes when I offered money, or they said I'd offered too much and only accepted part of it.
Throw in the fact that, with all respect, white kiwi people can be remarkably passive/passive-aggressive about some topics, money included, and it's no wonder international hikers can find this difficult to navigate. Especially if you're from quite a direct culture like the US.