A Maori Cultural View of Rivers: Ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au
Mauri: or life giving principle. Each river has its own mauri.
Mana: or spiritual power and authority, permission to use the river is obtained through prayer.
Tapu: ceremonial restriction which has been placed on the river by a tohunga (priest/priestess) such as:
a death caused by drowning (rahui)
ceremonial purposes
the making of fishing nets
Failure to respect tapu results in trouble, sickness or even death. I was taught the river is just like a person, if its not cared for and kept clean it will become sick and may lose its mauri and die.
Wai (Water) has many meanings related to the idea of water as the essence of life:
Wai-maori (Freshwater) - ordinary water that runs free, unrestrained and has no sacred associations
Wai-kino (Polluted) - Mauri of the water is altered through pollution or corruption and has potential to harm humans.
Wai-mate (Deadwater) - lost its mauri and its dead. Dangerous to humans. Stagnant, sluggish water.
Wai-tai (Salt or water from the ocean)- also rough or angry water as in surf, waves and seatides.
Wai-tangi (Grieving waters) - refers to a part of a river where some mishap has caused death.
Wai-ariki (Hot springs or curative waters) - chiefs of all waters.
These types of waters are used to define concepts for maintaining balance and the interconnections of all things and processes.
Used as a prefix to a word, water means synchronised action
e.g Waiata means to sing or chant
Wai has a spiritual meaning and Wairua means one soul or spirit as well as ones attitude or mood.
Te Ao Maori (The Maori World) - a holistic understanding of the environment. The environment is integral to Maori identity and culture. Maori see the environment as an interconnected whole and assess its health in the same way. For Maori, all parts of the environment animate and inanimate are infused with Mauri and connected through whakapapa (genealogy) - the descent of all living things from the original creators of life and the relationships between all lives.
Maori express this relationship by identifying with their environment, often with awa (river), moana (ocean) and land forms such as Maunga (mountains).
Maori gain a sense of identity and belonging from their connection with the natural environment, while iwi, hapu and whanau derive their sense of Mana through this connection.
The degradation of the natural environment can weaken this connection, with profound consequences for individual and social well beging.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi) is the foundation of the Crown - Maori relationship between maori and the environment with Te Urewera Forest and the Whanganui River becoming legal entities. As legal entities they are recognised in statue as holistic conceptions of the environment, with rights of their own and distinct relationships to the tangata whenua (people of the land).
(Arahura River - Jan, 2017).