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3 Significant Resource Management Issues, Objectives, Policies and Methods
3.2 An Introduction to the Waikato Region
3.2.2 People of the Waikato
In 1991, 330,315 people lived in the Waikato, representing one in 10 New Zealanders. Approximately 30 percent live in Hamilton city, with a further 20 percent living in the adjacent districts of Waikato and Waipa. The other half are dispersed throughout the Region in small settlements and rural areas (See Map 2).
Compared with New Zealand as a whole, the regional population is young and has a high percentage of Maori people. There are also pockets with a high proportion of people over 65 years and where the elderly population is expected to increase markedly.
The total population of the Waikato Region is expected to grow faster than the nation's as a whole. A medium growth rate would see an increase of 19 percent between 1991 and 2116 (from 330,315 to 395,000). If the Maori descent population experiences a medium rate of growth, it could make up 23 percent of the total population by 20111. The proportion of Waikato's children and young adults who are of Maori descent will increase: by 2011, around one third of those entering the labour force will be of Maori descent.
The main population growth is projected to occur in: Thames-Coromandel District; Hamilton City; and Environment Waikato parts of Franklin and Taupo Districts.
At the other end of the scale, a decline in population is projected for Otorohanga and Waitomo Districts. In isolated rural areas, a decline in population may threaten the viability of some communities.
The community, social and business services sector is the Waikato's largest employer, employing almost a quarter of the Region's workforce. The wholesale and retail trade sector is the second largest, and the manufacturing sector is the third.
Tangata Whenua of the Region
Tangata whenua whose rohe2 or tribal areas fall either wholly or partly in the Waikato Region include Tainui, Tuwharetoa, Ngati Tahu and Te Arawa.
Tainui represents one of the largest confederations in Maoridom and includes the tribes of Waikato, Maniapoto, Raukawa and Hauraki. However, of the twelve iwi in Hauraki only some affiliate to the Tainui waka. Those iwi are referred to as the Marutuahu compact of tribes which are Ngati Maru, Ngati Tamatera, Ngati Whanaunga and Ngati Paoa whakapapa back to Tainui. The Tainui confederation give allegiance to the Kingitanga movement, which is led by the Maori Queen, Te Atairangi Kahu. Tainui have special links with the Waikato River and its environs, and look to it for physical, cultural and spiritual sustenance. Hauraki has special links to the environs of Tikapa Moana (the Hauraki Gulf), and to the mountains of Te Aroha and Moehau. Hauraki also has a deep association with the eastern coast.
The people of Ngati Tuwharetoa have been connected with the Taupo area since the sixteenth century when they moved south from the Bay of Plenty. Lake Taupo has special significance for Ngati Tuwharetoa, who have recently had the lake bed returned to them after 66 years of Crown management. Both Ngati Tuwharetoa and Ngati Tahu have strong associations with the geothermal resource in their rohe. Ngati Tuwharetoa and Wanganui people also have cultural and spiritual association with the mountains of Tongariro National Park. In 1887 the Paramount Chief of Ngati Tuwharetoa, Te Heuheu Tukino, gifted the sacred peaks of Ruapehu, Ngaruhoe and Tongariro to the nation as a nucleus of New Zealand’s first national park.
Map 2: Population Distribution in the Waikato 1991
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Footnotes
- 1986 census data have been used for the Maori population projection figures as projections based on 1991 census data are not yet available.
- See Glossary for definition of rohe.