Photography: Rebecca Grunwell.
To many, Sam Gibson is Sam the Trap Man – conservationist, trapper, content creator and author. But long before thousands of people followed him online, came an upbringing shaped by a remarkable mum and grandmother, whose teachings still guide him.
“Our house was always open,” recalls Sam, 37.
“Everyone was getting fed, everyone was getting the medicine they needed… That’s my mum.”
While his nurse mother Michelle Vette, 62, taught him how to care for people, his now 98-year-old grandmother Rae Gibson taught him how to look after the land.
“She taught me how plants worked,” he says.
Raised on the East Coast, Sam, who is now also a Gisborne District councillor, says his childhood was rich in the things that mattered. His father Clayton Gibson was a Steiner school teacher, while his mum was an anthroposophical nurse – a registered nurse who has additional specialised training in holistic therapies.
Sam shares, “She led us through her actions. The phone would be to her ear on this long cord while she was cooking dinner and advising or helping other mums. Or she’d be putting on vegetarian cooking classes. She was always looking after our whole community.”
A love of nature passed down through generations
Meanwhile, Rae, an avid gardener and tramper, nurtured Sam’s curiosity in nature from an early age.
“When we were kids, we’d go out and there’d always be food from the vegetable garden,” remembers Sam.
“She raised seven kids and had more than 100 white Leghorn chickens. She would drive into town and sell the eggs.”
Inspired by Rae, Sam has always been a backyard chicken enthusiast, keeping and breeding his own.
He laughs, “We can talk chickens all day and I still like taking her cartons of my eggs or having big yarns about our gardens.”
A mission to reconnect people with nature
Rae was also a Forest and Bird volunteer, often taking Sam on day walks, introducing him to trees and plants, their incredible properties and how to care for them along the way. In his latest book, A Bushman’s Book of Yarns, Sam aims to take a similar approach, interspersing real-life hearty tales with chapters about native plants.
He enthuses, “The yarns are there as a vehicle and there’s some hard-case stories, but what I hope people walk away with is a little bit of understanding about what each of these plants are, the roles they play in the ecosystems and all of the amazing ways that these plants are prepared to be generous to us.”
The lessons that shaped Sam’s journey
Looking back, Sam acknowledges many other people and places have also been hugely impactful on his life. A gentle boy, who was bullied at primary school in Gisborne, Sam moved with his family to Hawke’s Bay when he was 12 to attend the local Steiner school, an alternative, holistic education option based on the teachings of philosopher Rudolph Steiner.
“I want to show my gratitude because without the openness of an education system that was slightly outside of the norm, I just wouldn’t have lived the life I’ve lived,” Sam reflects.
As a pre-teen on a somewhat wayward trajectory, he remembers his teachers supporting him to go bush regularly. In Te Urewera’s native rainforest, he learned to trap and hunt with his uncles and his mentor, legendary bushman Keith Tihema Beale, who passed away while Sam was writing this latest book.
“I’ve never met someone who reads the birds, the trees, the insects and the bush spiritually as well as Keith,” he says.
“Every time I walk in the bush or take young people in, I try to honour what he passed on to us.”
Keeping the wisdom of the forest alive
Sam can see that every one of those influences – his wider whānau, bushmen mentors and schooling – helped shape the man and father he is today. Nature and storytelling sit at the heart of his family life with partner Roimata Sinclair, and their children, son Rehua, seven, and daughter Te Kōtuku, four.
Sam believes it helps them understand who they are and where they belong, just as it did for him growing up.
“Our whole existence is framed in story, I guess,” shares Sam.
Sam remains driven by humility and hope, protecting forests, inspiring people online and in person, and sharing his message through his books.
“Primarily, I just want to be a good dad and husband,” he smiles.
“But we also see real value in writing books that young rural people can see themselves in because unless we share this mātauranga [knowledge], we’re not going to see young people wanting to step into these spaces – and that’s what we really need.”
A Bushman’s Book of Yarns by Sam Gibson (Allen & Unwin NZ, rrp $45)
