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“We are a river iwi. Our relationship with our awa tuupuna (ancestral river) has developed over centuries. Ngaati Koroki Kahukura continues to exercise the customary rights and responsibilities of kaitiakitanga over the Waikato River from Karaapiro through to Arapuni. As a kaitiaki of our ancestral river, Ngaati Koroki Kahukura continue to be responsible for protecting the health and well-being of the river for future generations. This statement of association also applies to all lakes and tributaries of the awa tuupuna”.
Ngaati Koroki Kahukura Claims Settlement Act 2014
‘Tiitiro whakakatau atu, ko Maungatautari, Ko Ngaati Koroki Kahukura, Ko Arapuni raa, te rohe o te tuna e…’
“From Karaapiro I look south and to my right, and there is Maungatautari and Ngaati Koroki Kahukura through to Arapuni, the domain of the eel”.
This lyric embodies and signifies the importance of Tuna, freshwater fisheries and surrounding ancestral lands and waters as the pivotal identity anchor of Ngaati Koroki Kahukura people. We take a multi-whānau, multidisciplinary exploratory approach to environmental knowledges and practice as it relates to Tuna, as well as other taonga including Freshwater Koura, Freshwater mountain springs (puna) and Wetlands restoration MDLP owned and occupied lands.
We nurture the sharing and exchange of traditional knowledge for our taonga, whaanau experiences of these taonga and habitats, and environmental well-being measures across multiple contexts including hapū, multi-iwi and science knowledge dimensions.
Further work to undertake and conduct mana whenua-led evaluative scans to assess broad population and stocking rates within the catchment area of Arapuni and Karaapiro is urgently required. The iwi are committed and responsible for the promotion and protection of tuna, and freshwater koura, manu, and raakau taketake as taonga. We work to gain a fuller understanding of the types of restoration efforts required to see, feel, and experience an abundance of taonga in and around our puna, manga, whenua, lakes, awa, maunga and wetland areas. We will drive this knowledge through new stocktake databases promoting our own access and maintenence of quantitative data sets, promoting indigenous sovereignty and empowering decision-making for our kaitaiki/kaimahi.
Kaitiaki continue to enhance and restore whenua, wai and kai. They are driven by working towards a set of key goals and working across other programmes of work including new native nurseries, farming operations and iwi-led environmental site visits and Waananga.
