Tangata whenua from Northland’s Wairoa River catchment have celebrated the completion of a two-year research project into the health and mauri of their ancestral awa (river).

Te Kawa Waiora - a project supported by the Waimā, Waitai, Waiora partnership, managed by Reconnecting Northland and led by researcher Dr Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal - set out to establish a “kawa” (a way of doing things) with the intent of protecting and restoring the Wairoa River and the communities that live alongside it.

The project used testimony from locals with ancestral ties to the river, drawn out in interviews and hui wānanga (workshops) throughout 2020 and 2021, as well as the archival and desktop research of Robyn Kāmira and Hineāmaru Davies-Lyndon.

Through kōrero (stories, conversations) the project’s researchers were able to understand the river’s historical uses, its position in the lives and lore of tangata whenua communities and what those same communities think will work in restoring its damaged waters.

Like many other places in Aotearoa New Zealand, the ecology of Northland’s Wairoa has been negatively impacted by generations of deforestation, farming and industry. This has led to profound changes in how the communities there live and work, and far-reaching social impacts.

According to the research report by Dr Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal, Te Kawa Waiora project participants were skeptical about the “ability of Crown agencies…to truly address the urgent and disastrous situation facing the environment…”

This is why the core finding of this research is the suggestion that a resourced kaitiaki network envisioned and run by tangata whenua is the best way to ensure a fundamentally different future for the Wairoa.

Dr Charles Royal echoed the sentiment of the people of the Wairoa in Reconnecting Northland’s 2022 Impact Report.

“Perhaps the most significant impact that the project has had upon me is to understand just how necessary, justified, and urgent tangata whenua-led 'ground up' solutions and initiatives really are now. Everywhere we went, I heard and saw our marae communities seeking to advance kaitiakitanga and being kaitiaki. I also heard their frustrations at not being able to give 'full rein' to kaitiakitanga in their areas, being instead constrained by a host of internal and external factors.”

Key findings of the research revealed considerable evidence for the presence of traditional tangata whenuatanga and that there is a deep thirst and desire to recover this knowledge and worldview, not just for the purposes of healing history but also to inspire decision making and action taking today.

The research found enormous evidence of the impact of change upon tangata whenua communities through an historical process that produced ‘radical' outcomes in the environment and the fragmentation of tangata whenua communities.

Dr Royal says “We found a phenomenon we entitled 'mourning the loss of the sacred' having noted the undercurrent of sadness in all our interactions with the tangata whenua regarding what has happened to the environment and to themselves since the 19th century.”

The report notes that these communities hold the Crown and its government at various levels responsible for the 'disastrous' situation now facing the environment.

Finally, tangata whenua are deeply skeptical of Crown derived processes (such as local government) to truly address the problems we see in the natural world. In their view, they have no option but to design and take action themselves based upon the belief that real change can only happen 'from the ground up', led by the tangata whenua in keeping with the values and ethics of Kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga and 'deep care'. This is the basis for their call for a fully resourced kaitiaki network.

Te Kawa Waiora has been a major stepping stone for the communities that whakapapa to the river, in envisioning and being equipped to action their own methods and practices for a better future for the river and their people.

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