Image: Stan McDowall
Talking about her childhood, TikTok sensation Terressa Kollat is full of warm stories and a reverence for the values her lighthouse-keeper parents instilled in her growing up, living off the land.
“My father always used to say, ‘If you look after nature, nature will look after you,’” smiles Terressa, 56, who treasures this sage advice.
Working full-time at the Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter, on her days off you’ll find the Southland mother in the bush or at one of her secret kaimoana seafood spots, passing on these lessons of the land to others, often those struggling to overcome trauma and challenging circumstances.
“They’re not coming just to learn how to gather kai – it’s a lot of women with anxiety and confidence issues or people with mental health problems,” she explains.
Her start in social media
In a bid to reach as many people as possible, in recent years, she also started sharing her knowledge on TikTok – and people love it, with more than 3.6 million likes on her videos.
“When my nephew first suggested it, I asked, ‘What’s TikTok?’” she laughs. “But when people comment on my videos, they often say, ‘You remind me so much of my mother.’ They can see the aspects my parents installed in us and they resonate with my videos.”
Born on the Mokohinau Islands in the Hauraki Gulf after her mother Hine Kino (of Ngāti Porou descent) and her Irish schoolteacher father John Shandley took on a post as lighthouse keepers, Terressa learned countless lessons on being self-sufficient.
Growing up as a lighthouse-keeper kid
“I remember Mum hanging up clothes and, seeing a deer, going back inside to get a gun to shoot it,” she shares. “We just thought it was normal how we lived. The odd time we flew into town, going into a shop was quite foreign and scary.”
The large family – Terressa is one of nine tight-knit siblings – went on to posts at Tiritiri Matangi Island and Puysegur Point. They moved back to the mainland in the 1970s when plans began to automate lighthouses. It was a stark contrast to life running around the island.
“On the first day of school, my lunchbox had muttonbird, crayfish and a piece of fruit cake – the girls next to me had cut sandwiches and an apple,” she tells. “I wasn’t ashamed, but I looked at them and knew then that I was different. I often say I wish I’d been born 100 years ago because I never felt and still don’t feel I quite fit in.”
Moving back home
Terressa went on to have a successful career in the textiles industry, which took her to Sydney with her husband at the time and daughters Sarah, now 38, and Amy, 35. Her son Jack, 22, was born in Australia.
It was in the bustling city that Terressa realised how much she wanted her children to be raised closer to nature, so she separated from her husband and moved back to New Zealand in 2006.
“When my children’s mates were busy going to malls, I made sure my son was dragging a flounder net, and my daughters were shooting and skinning rabbits. They’re not afraid of hard work.”
Friends were quick to ask to join Terressa on her adventures and it wasn’t long before strangers were reaching out too.
She started hosting small groups in her home, giving them an experience of sustainable hunting, fishing and gathering food while passing down the lessons she learned as a child.
“We should all still be able to get kai and we can if we do it properly,” says Terressa, who would love to do this full-time and welcomes the support of corporate sponsors. “I’m going to the same places I have for the past 20 years.”
The impact of helping her community
From a grateful young 20-year-old woman fresh out of a bad break-up who left a card, saying, “Aunty, thank you for caring. If you hadn’t said yes, I wouldn’t be here now,” to a former gang member choosing to take his son fishing instead of punishing him physically, so many have left Terressa’s home forever changed.
She says they also leave exhausted after skinning and gutting deer, then hauling them back home or walking long distances with heavy gear to get to remote spots.
“I’m very blunt, but I want people to learn to do it themselves,” says Terressa, who features on an upcoming episode of Hyundai Country Calendar. “After gutting, they all say they would have never believed they could do that.”
Often, people leave a donation, but Terressa never asks for money, covering the approximately $600 it costs to host and take people out of her own pocket.
She explains, “If I charged, I wouldn’t get these people who need it most coming.”
Watch Terressa on Hyundai Country Calendar on Sunday, March 30 at 7pm or later at TVNZ+. To follow Terressa, see tiktok.com/@terressakollat
