Reference: Māori Affairs Select Committee in relation to the Waitaha Claims Settlement Bill.

Transcription

1 To: Tapuika Iwi Authority PO BOX 15 Te Puke Helena Strange Clerk of Committee Māori Affairs Committee Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives Te Tari ō te Manahautu ō te Whare Mangai Tapuika Iwi Authority PO Box 15 Te Puke Bay of Plenty Reference: Māori Affairs Select Committee in relation to the Waitaha Claims Settlement Bill. Tēnā koutou e ngā mana, e ngā reo e ngā mema ō te Komiti, karanga mai, mihi mai. On behalf of the Tapuika Iwi Authority the Post Settlement Group Entity for Tapuika Iwi Settlement of Historical Claims we present our submission, in relation to the Waitaha Claims Settlement Bill that is currently before the committee. Tapuika Iwi Authority have for the past four years been engaged in negotiating our settlement with the Office of Treaty Settlements, we have recently completed our ratification process and are awaiting confirmation from the Minister of Māori Affairs and the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations to endorse the ratification so we can progress towards signing our Deed of Settlement scheduled for signing mid December INTRODUCTION We have been informed that Waitaha have objected to part of the Tapuika settlement pertaining to a cultural redress property specifically the Waiari Stream Conservation Area (OTS ). Throughout the process we have undergone numerous meetings with Waitaha and other neighbouring Iwi, in the pursuit of achieve amicable agreements that have the ability to address the wrongs of the past and to provide equitable redress by way of a Crown determined process. Negotiations leading up to the signing of an Agreement in Principle, stated that Tapuika would receive a Statutory Acknowledgement, likewise Waitaha, however due to the historical and cultural significance of the Waiari to Tapuika, crown offered in addition a Deed of Recognition. TIA Select Committee/Waitaha submission 2012 dtf 1

2 During a long duration of cross claimant meetings with Waitaha a resolution was reached where Waitaha accepted a Deed of Recognition be offered to Tapuika, this being an agreement and acknowledgement of Tapuika interests on the Waiari. However, during the confirming of the Agreement in Principle redress offered to Tapuika just prior to the initialling of the deed of settlement, we were informed by the Office of Treaty Settlements that a Deed of Recognition for the Waiari Stream was no longer possible due to the Crown having no interests in the Waiari. WAIARI ALTERNATIVE REDRESS OPTION Due to the situation regarding the original intent of providing a deed of recognition to Tapuika over the Waiari as indicated in the Agreement in principle is no longer able. The matter to investigate alternative redress that provides Tapuika with a balanced offer to counter the non deed of Recognition instrument offered is that Tapuika will accept the vesting of the entire Waiari Conservation Area [28.4 ha] as being of a balanced weighting and an appropriate alternative redress. The reasons for this acceptance are primarily in accordance with the protection of the remnant area and the importance cultural/historical significance this area has to Tapuika. The area which adjoins the Mangatoi and Waiari stream is the remnant of an area occupied by Tapuika ancestor Totokau, within the immediate area is the pa site Waiwiri, on the opposite side to the pa were the marakai [cultivation areas] that serviced the pa. The second area closer to the Waipuna stream is the remnant of two pa sites known as Pukerimu and Te Auauahi, both these pa were built by Tapuika, during the mid 17th century and are recorded in the Don Stafford Book Te Arawa. In reference to the name Pukerimu a secondary use of this name as a place can be found within the Waiari stream itself, in this sense the name refers to a mould that is covered with an oxygen plant [termed rimurimu) this was a taonga ika wahi [place where koura were taken]. This place is situated within the smaller of the conservation area parcels. In the interest of ensuring that Tapuika significant cultural interest to the Waiari remains preserved the alternative option of vesting the Waiari Conservation area in total [28.4 ha] is agreeable. This redress comes with pre determined principles and is subject to a high level of conservation values. Tapuika are agreeable to this redress and maintaining the high level status applied to the conservation area. CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WAIARI To define this interest to a singular waterway we offer to share our korero tawhito (knowledge handed down) of the Waiari Stream which is a spring water stream fed by the tributaries of the Mangatoi, Whataroa, Te Rerenga and Oturuturu, Whataroa, Te Raho o Totokau. The waiata Tenei Te Aroha refers to Ngaengaenui and Mangakino as springs or puna that are the source of this stream. Both springs significant as taonga tuku iho. TIA Select Committee/Waitaha submission 2012 dtf 2

3 The Waiari stream to Ngati Tuheke represents all that encompasses our identity and mana, and therefore ownership as expressed in the whakatauaki "Ko Waiari te toto, ahakoa te wai mauri o te tangata" "Waiari is the blood line, therefore the life force and essence of the people". The Kaitiaki of the Waiari is Tamitami Te Kopua a Tamitami is the name of his lair and is still able to be located by those of Ngati Tuheke who were raised by the river. In accordance with Ngati Tubeke memory there has never been a drowning of any Tapuika in the Waiari because of the taniwha Tamitami which watches over the people. (Spiritual ownership) Our living elders still speak of the times when they would go down to the Waiari to wash clothes, bath and collect water for cooking and drinking the Waiari was the centre of social activity. There is also an area along the Waiari called Te Pito o te whenua, this is where the afterbirths of Ngati Tuheke people are buried, the intention being that after death their bodies will return to the awa. (Intergenerational ownership). Opposite this place was a Ngati Tuheke kainga (settlement) called Parikarauna, in which was taken by the early european settlers and used as a pakeha cemetery, this is still considered by Ngati Tuheke as a hara kooti matua ( an indictable offence) which has never been compensated. (The right to compensate) The Waiari, provided access via waka from Maketu to Te Puke township, the landing place is at the foot of Te Kahika pa, it is here that our people brought the first Europeans to Te Puke, this place is of special significance for it represents the gateway in which the Waiari was accessed, providing Ngati Tuheke gave permission, (The rights to access) Further along is a place called Te Potaka, named so, to capture the essence of the spinning water; this place was also the original water source for the Marae Makahae and Tawakepito. (The right to take water) Another place of significance called Pukerimu a special place used for the collecting of koura, fresh water crayfish, this taonga immortalised in tribal genealogy and korero through the re naming of a Ngati Tuheke kuia to mark the importance and preference of this food source to our people. (The right to feed our people) Moving upstream below the ancient Pa and cultivation grounds at Taraturutu is found the waahi tapu Maioro, this place is where the bodies of the slain were prepared for burial, usually left strung and submerged within the stream banks to preserve the bodies for later burial and ceremony. (The right of customary practice) Just above here is the where the ancient spring Ngaengaenui and the tributary Te Raho o Totokau are found, these two waahi tapu are puna kaha hohonu, (strong ancient springs) the spring Ngaengaenui is commemorated in waiata (song) and associated with birth right ceremonies as well as a resting place for spirits upon their final journey. The tributary Te raho o Totokau is named to express the ownership of this part of the river under the control of the ancestor Totokau. (The right to ground water and use for customary practice) At the junction of the Waiari and the Mangatoi streams are found the second source or puna kaha hohonu called Mangakino, its name derives from the spring that feeds it. This being a place of great importance for it provides the mauri (life force) to the waiari. (The right of life giving waters) TIA Select Committee/Waitaba submission 2012 dtf 3

4 Beyond the junction of the Waiwiri pa site in the Whakauma lands is another feeder stream called Oturuturu a reach of river used predominately for the purpose of eeling. The rest of this river is known as Te Rerenga this part of the waterway was used for eeling by Ngāti Rangiwewehi when visiting their coastal marae called Te Haraki, Tapuika allowed this activity but only on the part known as Te Rerenga. (The right to allocate to another) NGA AWA ME NGA AWA ITI He wāhi tino hōhonu ngā awa, ngā awaawa me ngā repo i roto i te Takapu ō Tapuika m6 te mahi kai, m6 ngā rauemi hanga whare, m6 ngā kakahu, m6 ngā waituhi hoki. Heoi ano ra, ehara tehono ō tehapü ō Tapuika me ōna wai i tehono m6 te kohi kai, kohi rauemi noa iho. Ko tōna hōhonutanga ko te hono ki te mauri ō ngā wai, ki ngā kaitiaki me ngā taniwha hoki n6 rātou te rangatiratanga ō ngā awaawa me ngā awa e whakaatu tonu nei i te mana ō Tapuika i runga i te Takapu. He awa wai puna a Waiari e whāinuhia ana e ngā awaawa a Mangatoi, a Oturuturu, a Te Rerenga hoki. Kā puta mai ngā ingoa ō ngā puna nei a Ngaengaenui me Mangakino i roto i te waiata a T~nei te Aroha. Ko te Kaitiaki ō te Waiari ko Tamitami: ko Te Kōpua ō Tamitami te ingoa ō tōna kāinga, ā, kei te m6hiotia tonutia e ngā uri ō Ngāti Tüheke i tupu ake i ngā parenga ō te awa te whai atu i a ia. Ko wētehi ō ngā kāinga noho me ngā pā i ngā parenga ō te Waiari nō Ngāti Tuheke, Ngāi Tahere, Ngāti Moko me Ngāti Totokau ko Te Kahika, ko Tawakepito, ko Waiwiri, ko Okaha, ko Taniwhanui, ko Otaumaru, ko Pukepoti, ko Ngaeo, ko Te Aorere hoki. Ko te ingoa taketake ō Te Aorere ko Te Arero ō Ngakohua. Kei te hononga ō te Kaituna me te Waiari ko Te Rühui, he wāhi tapu i pakanga ai a Ngāti Moko ki a Waitaha, ā, kā patua a Makino te tuakana ō Te Moemiti e Ngāti Moko. He urupā nō Ngāti Tuheke a Kahikatea me Taumata i runga i te Waiari. He pātere ō Tapuika Tenei Te Aroha Tenei te aroha kā piki ki te nui (Here is the love that swells to a great size) Kei hea koia hei tahu hei piringa mo te Kuku? (Where have all the homes gone, those that were the nesting places for the Kuku?) E Whae ma, e Pa ma tirohia tonutia (Oh my mothers, oh my fathers, I search still) Kua riro ra te momo te tangata kua riro kei Paerau (Those types of people who are gone, gone to Paerau) Kei Te Reinga, kei Te Pouritanga (Gone to Te Reinga, gone to the Night) E hahau ana, e tangi ana ki te ao marama (I sob and cry to the world of light) TIA Select Committee/Waitaha submission 2012 dtf 4

5 Ki ngā maunga, ki ngā moana, ki ngā whare kōrero (To the mountains, to the seas, to the houses of learning) E tangi kau ana te mapu e! (I expel a final sigh of despair!) Tenei au, te aroha nei te tangi nei i runga ō Rangiuru (Here I am, my love, my grief, here on Rangiuru) Whakamau ana te titiro atu ki runga ō Maketu (I turn to look towards Maketu) E haruru ana e papaki ana ngā tai ō te moana (Where the tides of the sea rumble and crash) Koia pea nana nei i tukituki ngā wairua haere (They are perhaps the same tides that carry the travelling souls) A kariro ki te po e! (And are lost into the night!) Aku pikitanga, aku heketanga i runga ō Te Kaharoa (My ascensions and descents over Te Kaharoa) Ngā takahanga, ngā nohoanga ō tini tüpuna (The stamping ground, the homes of the many ancestors) A ko Te Mangakino, ko Ngaengaenui kei roto ko Waiari (And Te Mangakino and Ngaengaenui and in Waiari) Ko Parawhenuamea te pukaitanga ō ngā taniwha (Parawhenuamea is the gathering place of taniwha) Kei Kenana te moengaroa ō Ngāti Moko, ō Tapuika, me Tühourangi e! (The long resting place of Ngāti Moko, Tapuika and Tühourangi is at Kenana) We present this evidence to the Māori Affairs Select Committee for your consideration in defence our claim to the alternative redress: that being the inclusion of the Waiari Conservation Area in total [28.4 ha] as appropriate redress. Naku noa na Setehaugsā Mtlahawuptai stauett Dean Terekaunuku Whakarongotai Flavell Tapuika Iwi Authority Trustee Tapuika iwi Negotiator Epo, tot Seia 90idiamo Teia Williams Tapuika Iwi Authority Trustee Tapuika iwi Negotiator TIA Select Committee/Waitaha submission 2012 dtf 5

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