An agreement to help decide the future of Te Tai Poutini landscape formally started today with a pōwhiri at Arahura Marae, as the national panel working on the reclassification of stewardship land was welcomed into Poutini Ngāi Tahu rohe.
Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu kaiwhakahaere Lisa Tumahai says this significant kaupapa comes after many Māori lost their tīpuna connection to traditional sites.
“This is an exciting time for Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reverse the decisions of the past and help future generations of our people access the whenua and connect with their tīpuna.”
The Department of Conservation (DoC) is reclassifying stewardship land throughout Aotearoa to better protect conservation areas home to threatened species and high priority ecosystems. About 30% of conservation areas are held in stewardship – over 2.5 million hectares or 9% of New Zealand’s total land area.
Sharing mātauranga Māori
A Ngāi Tahu mana whenua panel was appointed at the end of last year to work alongside two national panels and share traditional mātauranga Māori of the whenua within its takiwā. This came after Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu filed urgent legal proceedings last May to pause the reclassification process, which the Crown had started without the involvement of Ngāi Tahu as its Treaty partner. After reaching an agreement with DoC, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu withdrew legal proceedings in November.
As part of their mahi, the mana whenua panel will work with the national panels and DoC to develop and implement a public consultation process. It will provide information on mahinga kai, cultural interests, development opportunities, and its future aspirations for the use of the whenua.
Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Waewae and mana whenua panel chair Francois Tumahai says the mana whenua panel is already reviewing reports about the Karamea, Kawatiri and Paparoa landscapes.
Past and aspirations for whenus
"We are sharing Ngāi Tahu values with the two national panels, so they understand our past, as well as our future aspirations to use the land of our tīpuna for economic activity and generate new opportunities for our people and the West Coast community. With our mātauranga, the national panels can make draft recommendations on the reclassification of stewardship land, which will then go to public consultation, before the Minister of Conservation makes a final decision.”
Stewardship land makes up a large part of the Ngāi Tahu takiwā, and there are many traditional sites on the whenua interwoven with the history of Ngāi Tahu people and their kōrero.
“Kōrero of my Te Tai Poutini whenua has been passed down through the generations, from our tīpuna to our mātua, and now I’m sharing this with my tamariki and moko,” Lisa Tumahai says.
"Poutini Ngāi Tahu knows every trade that has happened on the coast, every battle, and how our people traditionally used mahinga kai to sustain our hapū and iwi. Our knowledge of this land can only help to strengthen the decision making of the minister."