The tangata whenua of the Waikato Region's coast are Hauraki, Maniapoto, Raukawa, and Waikato Tainui. Through the tribal network, and the Maaori tradition, the people of these tribes are stakeholders in the welfare of both the west and east coasts of the Waikato Region.
Waikato Tainui Views
The tangata whenua of the Waikato Region’s coast are predominantly the people of the Tainui waka.
Tainui is the past. Tainui is the present. Tainui is the future. In accordance with Maaori Customary Law and as acknowledged in the Declaration of Independence 1839, Tainui is tangata whenua.
This section summarises Waikato Tainui views on coastal management issues for the Region’s west coast. These views are taken from the report prepared by the Huakina Development Trust which was taken into account in the development of the Plan.
Waikato Tainui is committed to cleaning up the environment and considers that a regional coastal plan is fundamental to that process. It also considers that the tangata whenua perspective is integral to, and should be incorporated in, the Plan.
Ownership of the west coast fish, harbours and water systems within the Region under study is an issue which forms the basis of tangata whenua concerns with respect to planning processes.
The tangata whenua consider that the Treaty of Waitangi recognised and guaranteed their exclusive rights to the fisheries of the Region under study. It is also their view that through the Declaration of Independence, the rights, ownership, management and use of the natural resources within the Region, which are the subject of the Regional Coastal Plan, had already been clearly established.
Huakina Development Trust state that the Manawhenua groups of Waikato Tainui within the Region which is the subject of the Regional Coastal Plan are the Kaitiaki of the area and the traditional fisheries of Tainui.
The Waikato Tainui position is that they have ‘never objected to sharing the waterways or its fisheries and its use for recreation, however, Waikato Tainui do object to the abuse of such a resource.’ Waikato Tainui believe that they must fulfil their Kaitiaki responsibilities to ensure the preservation and wise use of natural resources.
They believe that when the performance of their duty as Kaitiaki is interfered with, the well being of their people, both spiritually and physically, is at risk. Their mana is determined not only by their feats, their standing in their community and the ability to cater for visitors, but also by the quality of the taonga they pass to their descendants. Such taonga are the natural resources within the area subject to the Regional Coastal Plan.
The Maaori world is a combination of spiritual, cultural and physical balances intricately woven, which acknowledges the significance of where they came from, the sacredness of water and their intimate kin relationship to all entities within the environment. Maaori culture does not separate the land from the surrounding elements of air, water, minerals, flora or fauna. The Region under study is embodied in tangata whenua tradition, sacred areas and burial grounds and these things are a constant reminder of Maaori historical, cultural and spiritual values.
According to Maaori tradition, even water has a mauri. The mauri is the force that ensures within a physical entity such as the sea, harbours, rivers, lakes and estuaries including land, that all species that it accommodates will have continual life. The mauri should not be interrupted or desecrated. However, if it is, whatever it accommodates is at risk.
The tangata whenua believe that disasters or natural phenomena can not harm the mauri, only that instigated by people, merely by the use of artificial components such as chemicals. The mauri is defenceless against components that are not part of the natural environment. The mauri of waters and the wairua of the tangata whenua have the same origin. Therefore when the mauri is harmed, so too is the spirit of the tangata whenua.
The strong association tangata whenua have with the Region, subject to the Regional Coastal Plan, is closely allied to the gathering of food. Kai moana provides for the daily needs of tangata whenua as well as supplying marae for important ceremonial occasions.
The mana of the tangata whenua is based, in part, on an ability to provide kai moana for such events. Kai moana is considered to be fundamental to the perpetuation of cultural and related social activities. For these reasons water quality and the productivity of the environment within the Regional Coastal Plan is highly valued by the Waikato Tainui people.
Rahui is a traditional belief in the concept of prohibition. It is regularly imposed at specific stages in the life cycle of certain species in order to give them a chance to spawn and regenerate. Rahui is also placed on an area when a drowning occurs and food gathering is not permitted for specified periods usually determined by kaumatua of the area.
Today, legislation also offers Taiapure or management of a local fishery by tangata whenua groups. Taiapure gives legal recognition for tangata whenua groups to perform their Kaitiaki obligations through a management committee.
The area covered by the Regional Coastal Plan also has ancestral ties with early Waikato Tainui settlement of the surrounding land, and of areas beyond, for which the Region was a regular means of access. Many areas within the Region are considered to be waahi tapu for various historical, cultural and spiritual reasons. For example, Maketu is the landing place of the Tainui waka. ‘It is extremely sacred, for it is the resting home of the waka.’
Environment Waikato recognises and acknowledges that Waikato Tainui is tangata whenua of most of the Waikato Region, and also recognises and acknowledges the historical, environmental, spiritual, cultural and traditional values Waikato Tainui have for the Region covered by the coastal plan. The holistic approach to resource management advocated by Waikato Tainui is supported.
Hauraki Views
The Hauraki Maori Trust Board brings together iwi with interests in the east coast of the Region’s coastline, and the Firth of Thames.
Known by Hauraki as ‘Te Tara o te Whai’ or ‘the barb of the stingray’, the Coromandel Peninsula extrudes northwards supported by the sheened waters of Tikapa Moana on the west and the tumultuous seascape of Te Tai Tamawahine on the east. It is also referred to as a waka which extends from Moehau in the north to Te Aroha in the south whose ribs are the river which flow from the mountains and empty into the estuaries and harbours below. These ancient traditions serve to illustrate the importance of the coast to Hauraki and the manner in which they took on personifications of great reverence.
Both sheltered and exposed, the myriad of bays, inlets, harbours, estuaries and precipitous headland pa embrace the extensive coastline keeping an observant watch on the offshore islands and the all pervading seas. This was the domain of atua ‘gods’ brought into being by the union of Ranginui, Sky Father and Papatuanuku, Earth Mother. The life of Hauraki was much shaped by this environment in both physical and spiritual senses.
In a physical sense, Hauraki resided along the coastline because this is where the food was abundant and where immediate access could be had to the sea. Hauraki were fishers and mariners. Pa, kainga sites, cultivations, and burial grounds dominate the coast as a constant reminder of the Hauraki past, present and future. Hauraki have an intimate knowledge of their coast and the management systems required to ensure its resources are conserved for present and future generations. The coastal treasures not only maintained the coastal food basket, but also ensured Hauraki could carry out their manaakitanga obligations to their guests and their inland relations. Special places were set aside for mahinga maataitai, the gathering of plants and materials for cultural purposes, ceremonial purposes and waahi tapu.
Mauri and its maintenance is the key to the Maaori world view of the environment and it is no different in Hauraki. The practitioners of the maintenance of mauri are Kaitiaki. Kaitiaki are tangata whenua. The obligation to fulfil this Kaitiaki role is ancestral derived from whakapapa connections to the natural world and beyond. Built into this system is a check and balance component of tikanga. Tikanga insists upon a certain course of action. Mauri was traditionally maintained using tikanga such as karakia, kawa, tapu, rahui and whakanoa. The Kaitiaki ethos recognises that the spiritual well-being of a resource is essential to its physical well-being. It approaches the environment in a holistic sense where land, air, waters, soils, minerals, seas, energy, plants, animals, birds, rivers, trees, people all interact and affect each other.
Rangatiratanga over their coastal resources, the coastal resources themselves and the ability to perform the Kaitiaki role is an issue that forms the basis of Hauraki concerns with respect to planning processes. These were customary rights reaffirmed to Hauraki by the Treaty of Waitangi. To Hauraki, the Treaty establishes the proper framework in which coastal resources are conserved and nurtured for present and future generations.
Environment Waikato recognises and acknowledges that Hauraki is tangata whenua of the west and east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula and recognises and acknowledges that the physical, spiritual, cultural, social and economic well-being of Hauraki is dependent upon the well-being of their coastal resources and upon their ability to perform their Kaitiaki role over the areas covered by the coastal plan. The holistic approach to resource management advocated by Hauraki is supported.