Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
I am the river, the river is me.
Te Atihaunui a Paparangi
has been locked in battle against the Crown
for nearly 150 years
over the authority of the Whanganui River.
Today their efforts have paid off
with the signing of the Whanganui River deed.
I am the river and the river is me.
If you abuse the river, you're abusing me.
This river isn't just water and sand,
it is an ancestral being with it's own integrity.
The claims been named Ruruku Whakatupua Te Mana o Te Awa Tupua,
and it deals primarily with the Whanganui River.
It gives co-management of the river
to the Crown, iwi, local government and the community.
So that it doesn't get polluted or degraded.
That's why today is a special day.
For more than 150 years
Te Atihaunui a Paparangi has been waiting
for the cultural status of its river to be recognised.
The Crown's abuse of the river has been a long one.
The destruction of eeling blockades and lamprey weirs,
extraction of coal from the river bed,
the clearing of land for steamship travel.
It has been destructive to it's well being.
The Crown's greatest sin is their ignorance.
They knew nothing of its significance,
who it is, they don't under stand it.
The settlement was signed at Ranana Marae in Whanganui.
By Tamakehu and Ruaka,
he descendants of the Whanganui River were born.
Anzac Pikia, Te Karere.