KŌPIKOTANGA • DOMESTIC TRAVEL

42 Kōanga • Spring 2020 HeritageHeritage New Zealand WORDS: JACQUI GIBSON has long been shrouded in mystery: a mountain region of emerald forests, clear rivers and blue-green lakes populated by Tūhoe, the fiercely independent yet enigmatic iwi known as Nā Tamariki o Te Kohu, A LIVING the Children of the Mist. The region is generously managed and used, we’re asking endowed with enough jaw- people to see Te Urewera as dropping scenery to warrant Tūhoe does – as a living system its own Great Walk at Lake that people depend on for Waikaremoana, and with more survival, culture, recreation and system culture and history to enthral any inspiration. It’s about relating to heritage-conscious traveller. Te Urewera as its own identity Manuhiri are being invited Fitting snugly between the in a physical, environmental, to experience Te Urewera in and Hawke’s Bay, cultural and spiritual sense.” Te Urewera – the first natural It’s 8.30am on a Monday a new way landmark to be recognised in New morning when I arrive in Zealand law as a legal entity in its Tāneatua for a walking tour of own right – is signposted by the the tribal headquarters of Tūhoe villages of Tāneatua to the north, with Tamati and fellow Tūhoe Murupara and Ruatāhuna to the leader Kirsti Luke. west and Wairoa to the east. An iwi of 40,000 people, Tūhoe “We’re asking people to has a governance board led by completely rethink their Tamati as Chair, a tribal authority experience of Te Urewera when led by Kirsti as Chief Executive, they come here,” says Tūhoe and a 110-person staff responsible leader Tamati Kruger. for the care of Te Urewera and “Instead of seeing nature as providing health, education and

IMAGE: ROB SUISTED IMAGE: a set of discrete resources to be social services to iwi members.

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kaitiaki: guardians kaitiakitanga: guardianship karakia: prayer 1 kaumātua: elder kaupapa: goals kōrero: discussion Tamati, Kirsti and I start our kōrero over a cup a pair of blue mirrored aviators. She’s lived in manaakitanga: of tea and reflect on the law that brought an end Te Urewera off and on for most her life and has hospitality to Crown ownership of Te Urewera National Park an in-depth knowledge of the ngāhere thanks to manuhiri: visitors in 2014. The world-first law recognised the a childhood of hiking and hunting with whānau. mātauranga Māori: 212,673-hectare area as a legal entity and the people Today, from a well-forested site on whānau land, she indigenous of Tūhoe as its legal guardian. offers tourists a chance to immerse themselves in nature knowledge “The settlement heralded huge change for both iwi by staying in bush whare and joining her on guided maunga: mountain and visitors,” explains Tamati. walks throughout the rohe. miromiro: North “It ended several decades of the DOC system – a Typically, she welcomes visitors with a mihi whakatau Island tomtit system people are very familiar with – for an approach – a traditional settling-in ceremony that introduces ngāhere: bush that’s based on tribal practices such as kaitiakitanga and people to Te Urewera through karakia and waiata. manaakitanga.” “From a Tūhoe perspective, it’s the land, the people rohe: region As we finish up and head outside, I ask Tamati and and our culture that define our concept of heritage,” tamariki: children Kirsti what visitors to Te Urewera should make of this Patrick McGarvey, Māori Heritage Council member for tīkanga: new era. Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, tells me. cultural practice “People need to know they’re welcome here,” says “For us, a hillside or an ancient waiata has as waiata: song Tamati. much meaning and history as a building belonging to wharenui: “My advice to manuhiri is to come as you are. Be another era.” meeting house yourself. Bring your friends and your children. Enjoy During my overnight stay, Hinewai shares stories this wonderful place – its rivers, its trees and its birds. of Hine-pūkohu-rangi, the mist maiden who lured Te Revel in its mystery. Meet our people. But also take time Maunga to Earth from heaven and with whom she 1 Te Urewera, New Zealand. to hear their stories and learn our history. Be open to coupled to create the people of Tūhoe. IMAGE: ROB SUISTED experiencing this place in a new way.” I take part in a tree-planting experience, called 2 Tamati Kruger, Tūhoe It’s 11am when I reach Whakatau Rainforest Retreat Tāne Mahuta – God of the Forest, designed to teach Chair, and Kirsti Luke, in the village of Ngaputahi. guests how to care for the forest and drawing on Tūhoe Chief Executive. Driving on the only road in to one of New Zealand’s mātauranga Māori. 3 Bush whare, Whakatau most isolated rainforests, I watch paddocks and On a half-day bush walk in Whirinaki Te Pua-a- Rainforest Retreat. rundown farm houses give way to dense tawa and rimu Tāne Conservation Park, Hinewai and I discuss the 4 forest and scraps of milky-white mist start to appear in government deal in 2014 that settled the Crown’s Whirinaki Te Pua-a-Tāne Conservation Park. the bush canopy like wisps of flyaway candy floss. historical wrongs against Tūhoe and recognised Tūhoe guide and eco-lodge owner Hinewai McManus Te Urewera as having its own legal identity. 5 Miromiro sculpture, greets me at the roadside wearing a camouflage “Did the settlement change much for me, personally?” Whakatau Rainforest Retreat. tracksuit, embroidered leather cowboy boots and Hinewai asks in reply to my question during lunch by IMAGERY: JACQUI GIBSON

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“Revel in its mystery. Meet our people. But also take time to hear their stories and learn our history. Be open to experiencing this place in a new way”

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HOW TO PLAN YOUR TE UREWERA ADVENTURE

Drop in to one of the new Tūhoe information hubs located at Tāneatua, 1. Waikaremoana and Ruatāhuna. A hub in Waimana is due to open soon.

Set aside time for a road trip to all three hubs – each one is distinct and 2. has its own information and resources. Do the road trip in a couple of days or over time if you want to keep returning to, and exploring, the region.

Tramp, fish, hunt, stay on a marae, go horse-riding or enjoy a bush kai 3. experience with a local Tūhoe guide who can tell you about Te Urewera 4 and the culture and ways of Tūhoe (Tūhoetanga). n

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46 Kōanga • Spring 2020 Heritage New Zealand the river. “Not especially. I’ve spent so much of my life here in the bush. I’ve always seen myself as one of the many kaitiaki of Te Urewera. “But I’m proud we were the first in the world to introduce such legislation. I’m pleased people from all over the world are coming here to see what being kaitiaki means in practice.” Talking to Brenda Tahi in Ruatāhuna the following day, she says welcoming tourists to Te Urewera has long been part of Tūhoe culture. 8 A former government manager and company strategist and now head of a trust responsible for a range of tourism, economic and social ventures in Te Urewera, Brenda also runs Manawa Honey Tours. TAKE A SELF-GUIDED Tours take visitors to see Manawa beehives on foot or horseback and sample delicious wild bush honey WALKING TOUR OF straight from the hive. TE KURA WHARE “Many people don’t realise tourism in Te Urewera dates back to the 1800s. In Ruatāhuna, we have some really well-established tourism providers, like Richard Te Kura Whare is the tribal headquarters of Tūhoe, and Mariann White at Ahurei Adventures, who offer located at 12 Tūhoe Street in Tāneatua. hiking, horse-riding and marae stays. Completed in 2014, Te Kura Whare is an award- “We’re also seeing amazing social enterprises pop up, winning, sustainably designed building based on international principles of non-toxic, environmentally like The Blackhouse, a small-scale restaurant run by the 1 Brenda Tahi of Manawa Mitai whānau from their home.” friendly ‘living buildings’. Honey Tours (left) and During dinner at The Blackhouse, I learn that all the Built from materials such as dead and fallen trees Hinewai McManus of food on my plate has been locally sourced – either grown within Te Urewera and mud from local rivers, Te Kura Whakatau Rainforest Retreat. by tamariki in school gardens or, in the case of the wild Whare generates renewable energy, and collects and Te Urewera venison, caught by local hunters. Most of treats its own drinking water and greywater. 2 Manawa Honey Tours the proceeds go into social activities, such as free music Today it is one of a growing network of living beekeeper Nick Mitai. lessons for tamariki. buildings within Te Urewera, which includes Te Kura 3 Maungapōhatu marae “As Tūhoe, our challenge is to manage tourism in a Tanata in Ruatāhuna and the striking black tribal office grounds. way that aligns with our aspirations and our culture set among wetlands at . 4 Bush kai served on a of looking after this beautiful natural environment for To get to Te Kura Whare, take a 15-minute drive 5 Manawa Honey Tour future generations. inland from Whakatāne, then park in the main visitors’ (4) and at Whakatau “When people come here to spend time with us, carpark. Head in to the main reception area to start Rainforest Retreat (5). they’re buying in to that vision. They’re getting behind your self-guided walking tour of the building. n 6 Horse trekking with our communities and supporting our kaupapa.” Manawa Honey Tours. I spend my last day in Te Urewera at the historic 7 The Mitai whānau of marae of Maungapōhatu with Tūhoe kaumātua Richard A banquet dinner of crayfish, oysters, chicken, The Blackhouse, a social Tūmarae and his whānau. vegetables, salads and Māori fried bread served inside enterprise that serves On a morning bush walk he tells me: “So many of the wharenui by candlelight – considered a no-no in visitors local kai while supporting community our young people live outside Te Urewera in cities and Māori culture – spoke of the unconventional take on initiatives. overseas. When I can, I like to bring groups – school tīkanga by Rua, and his special place in the history of IMAGERY: JACQUI GIBSON kids, older people, sometimes tourists – here to walk the Tūhoe as an independent thinker. 8 Te Kura Whare, Tāneatua. land and understand its history.” The next morning Richard shows me the remnants of IMAGE: TE URU TAUMATUA In 2019 Maungapōhatu marae was the site of a formal the wooden cottage Rua shared with 12 wives. Standing government pardon. The pardon acknowledged the hurt on the hillside, we imagine a time when the tennis and shame suffered by the people of Maungapōhatu courts, now overgrown, were in full swing, and we’re more than 100 years earlier when their ancestor, amazed at the lengths the community went to to haul a Tūhoe prophet Rua Kēnana, was illegally arrested and concert piano into this isolated mountain settlement. Maungapōhatu was raided by 70 police officers. “They came here because they wanted independence Walking between the wharenui and the kitchen, and the freedom to express their culture. This story is I see stones commemorating two men, Te Māipi part of my heritage now and it’s what I’m reminded of Te Whiu and Toko, the son of Rua, shot dead during each time I come here,” Richard tells me as we turn back the 1916 police raids. down the hill and head for home.

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