Abstract:ABSTRACT. In response to widespread water quality and quantity issues, the New Zealand Government has recently embarked on a number of comprehensive freshwater management reforms, developing a raft of national discussion and policy documents such as "Freshwater Reform 2013 and Beyond" and a National Policy Statement for freshwater management (NPS-FM 2014). Recent resource management reforms and amendments (RMA 2014), based on previous overarching resource management legislation (RMA 1991), set out a new approa… Show more
“…Through creation beliefs, the river is a living being, an ancestor with its own life force, authority and prestige, and sacredness.This positions a river as not just a resource to be used or a hazard to be controlled, but as an ancestral force to be lived with, reckoned with and respected. This is reflected in several common Māori sayings, for instance, Ko au te awa , ko te awa ko au (“I am the river, the river is me”), “Harm the river and you harm my ancestors,” “Take care of the land, and the land will take care of you.” This reciprocal relationship entwines manaaki whenua (caring for the land) and manaaki tangata (caring for people; Harmsworth, Awatere, & Robb, ). Custodial linkages are expressed through kaitiakitanga (guardianship), with deep respect for ancestral linkages that position people as part of landscapes and ecosystems (Marsden, ).…”
Section: A Mātauranga Māori Perspective On River Rightsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi), signed in 1840 between the British Crown (now represented by the New Zealand Government) and the leaders of indigenous Māori iwi/hapū tribal groups, established a collaborative partnership that crosses jurisdictions, agencies, and communities to recognize and acknowledge indigenous rights. It conferred responsibilities and obligations on subsequent New Zealand governments to uphold the rights of Māori as British subjects and New Zealand citizens, while protecting their land, estates, water, forests, and other resources or treasures ( taonga ; Harmsworth et al, ). The Treaty has been the subject of heated debate since 1840, with various interpretations of its meanings both in Māori and in English (see Salmond, ).…”
Section: A Mātauranga Māori Perspective On River Rightsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Recommendations and settlements that have resulted from Tribunal processes have included formal apologies, as well as economic and cultural reparation (Ruru, ). The Tribunal has articulated a number of resource‐specific principles, while stating that the spiritual and cultural significance of a freshwater resource can only be determined by tangata whenua and their traditional rights (Harmsworth et al, ; Ruru, ). These principles, along with other advocacy, have engendered significant Māori reengagement with environmental management policy in Aotearoa New Zealand.…”
Section: A Mātauranga Māori Perspective On River Rightsmentioning
The granting of rights to the Whanganui River in 2017 emerged as an outcome of Tribunal hearings relating to breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi, signed between Māori chiefs and the British Crown in 1840. As this expression of a river as having legal personhood with rights reflects a distinctively Māori perspective upon river systems, it offers the prospect for a new era of sociocultural approaches to river management in Aotearoa New Zealand. Using the Whanganui River as a case study, this paper explores prospective geomorphic meanings of river rights. The paper asks, “What role can geomorphology play in identifying, articulating and protecting the rights of a river?” Ancestral Māori relations to the river based upon mutual codependence (reciprocity) are juxtaposed against geomorphic understandings of a river's agency as expressed through self‐adjustment, diversity of form, evolution, and catchment‐scale connectivities. Relations between river science and indigenous concepts of rivers, framed under the auspices of river rights, present opportunities for different approaches to river management.
“…Through creation beliefs, the river is a living being, an ancestor with its own life force, authority and prestige, and sacredness.This positions a river as not just a resource to be used or a hazard to be controlled, but as an ancestral force to be lived with, reckoned with and respected. This is reflected in several common Māori sayings, for instance, Ko au te awa , ko te awa ko au (“I am the river, the river is me”), “Harm the river and you harm my ancestors,” “Take care of the land, and the land will take care of you.” This reciprocal relationship entwines manaaki whenua (caring for the land) and manaaki tangata (caring for people; Harmsworth, Awatere, & Robb, ). Custodial linkages are expressed through kaitiakitanga (guardianship), with deep respect for ancestral linkages that position people as part of landscapes and ecosystems (Marsden, ).…”
Section: A Mātauranga Māori Perspective On River Rightsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi), signed in 1840 between the British Crown (now represented by the New Zealand Government) and the leaders of indigenous Māori iwi/hapū tribal groups, established a collaborative partnership that crosses jurisdictions, agencies, and communities to recognize and acknowledge indigenous rights. It conferred responsibilities and obligations on subsequent New Zealand governments to uphold the rights of Māori as British subjects and New Zealand citizens, while protecting their land, estates, water, forests, and other resources or treasures ( taonga ; Harmsworth et al, ). The Treaty has been the subject of heated debate since 1840, with various interpretations of its meanings both in Māori and in English (see Salmond, ).…”
Section: A Mātauranga Māori Perspective On River Rightsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Recommendations and settlements that have resulted from Tribunal processes have included formal apologies, as well as economic and cultural reparation (Ruru, ). The Tribunal has articulated a number of resource‐specific principles, while stating that the spiritual and cultural significance of a freshwater resource can only be determined by tangata whenua and their traditional rights (Harmsworth et al, ; Ruru, ). These principles, along with other advocacy, have engendered significant Māori reengagement with environmental management policy in Aotearoa New Zealand.…”
Section: A Mātauranga Māori Perspective On River Rightsmentioning
The granting of rights to the Whanganui River in 2017 emerged as an outcome of Tribunal hearings relating to breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi, signed between Māori chiefs and the British Crown in 1840. As this expression of a river as having legal personhood with rights reflects a distinctively Māori perspective upon river systems, it offers the prospect for a new era of sociocultural approaches to river management in Aotearoa New Zealand. Using the Whanganui River as a case study, this paper explores prospective geomorphic meanings of river rights. The paper asks, “What role can geomorphology play in identifying, articulating and protecting the rights of a river?” Ancestral Māori relations to the river based upon mutual codependence (reciprocity) are juxtaposed against geomorphic understandings of a river's agency as expressed through self‐adjustment, diversity of form, evolution, and catchment‐scale connectivities. Relations between river science and indigenous concepts of rivers, framed under the auspices of river rights, present opportunities for different approaches to river management.
“…In New Zealand, indigenous rights of Māori communities in resource management are legislated in the Treaty of Waitangi (1840), the Resource Management Act (1991), and a number of regional and national policy documents. Where examples of co‐governance and co‐management exist, collaboration is successful when indigenous groups are involved from inception, and where there is respect, understanding, and acknowledgment of different perspectives (Harmsworth, Awatere, & Robb, ). Mātauranga Māori, “traditional knowledge and ways of knowing developed over centuries” (Te Aho, 2019), is both a “method for generating knowledge and all of the knowledge generated according to that method” (Hikuroa, ).…”
The study and management of rivers have undergone a metamorphosis over the last four decades, transitioning from individual sub‐disciplines towards interdisciplinary approaches and an increased focus on viewing riverine landscapes as social‐ecological systems. Within this context, there is a growing emphasis on the need to take resilience‐based approaches to living with rivers in a sustainable way that maximises public security, infrastructure protection, and economic, ecological, and cultural benefits and values. The concept of viewing rivers as social‐ecological systems is gaining traction in science and management discourse; however, the idea is not new, and indigenous knowledge systems consistently place humans within the natural world. Integrating environmental knowledge, in its various forms, plays a key role in understanding issues and developing solutions for freshwater managers, especially in the context of rivers as social‐ecological systems. The 5th Biennial Symposium of the International Society for River Science conference, themed “Integrating Multiple Aquatic Values,” provided a forum for sharing environmental knowledge underpinning freshwater management critical for achieving multiple goals. The papers in this special issue highlight the fundamental properties of rivers as social‐ecological systems and the attempts to integrate multiple values concerned with rivers and their landscapes. From a series of case studies, a set of challenges and opportunities emerge that have the potential to further the management and research of rivers as social‐ecological systems and integrate multiple aquatic values. Key to this is acknowledging and respecting the value that indigenous worldviews and knowledge bring. We also echo the call of other authors that if the overall goals are that rivers, societies, and their interactions are to result in positive social and ecological outcomes for people and rivers, then integrating and respecting multiple values and knowledge systems will be required.
“…The indigenous Māori have long raised concerns about the degradation of freshwater in New Zealand, have highlighted the shortcomings in Western scientific approaches, and are leading the transformation of law and policy for better governance and management of all natural resources (Harmsworth et al, ). This has involved integrating tikanga (indigenous laws and values) in river governance and management.…”
Rivers, lakes, streams, and springs have been described as the bloodways of Papatūānuku, earth mother. On this view of the world, water is life. We are witnesses to the importance of water for all communities when the health and well‐being of our waterways are at risk. In New Zealand, governance and management systems have not been able to cope with legacy issues nor are they coping with the complex problems of diffuse pollution from intensive farming, climate change, pest species, and population growth. In seeking ways to improve freshwater management, there are increasing calls to include tikanga (indigenous laws and values) into decision‐making frameworks. Indigenous concepts such as kaitiakitanga (the responsibility to take care of natural resources) and Te Mana o te Wai (restoring and protecting the integrity of water) have gained traction. This article will explain these concepts through a distinctively indigenous lens and highlight some of the challenges of integrating tikanga into dominant western frameworks.
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