20.3.18 (Collins, 2018 D4) Waiwiri Lake, Stream & Environs: He Taonga Cultural Impact Assessment report for the three affected Ngāti Raukawa hapū – Ngāti Kikopiri, Ngāti Pareraukawa, Ngāti Hikitanga By Heeni Collins, with support from the Ngāti Kikopiri Māori Marae Committee Society, the Kikopiri Marae Reservation Trustees, Ngāti Pareraukawa & Ngāti Hikitanga. Funded by the Horowhenua District Council March 2018 1 20.3.18 Contents Contents ..................................................................................................................................... 2 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 3 2. Treaty of Waitangi Claims - Context ...................................................................................... 4 3. Steps towards Cultural Impact Assessment Report ............................................................... 7 4. Cultural Values – Ngāti Kikopiri, Ngāti Pareraukawa, Ngāti Hikitanga ................................ 10 4.1 Mauri .............................................................................................................................. 10 4.2 Wairuatanga - ngā atua & ngā tupuna .......................................................................... 10 4.3 Ngāti Kikopiri Environmental Management Report ...................................................... 11 4.4 Ngāti Kikopiri Oral and Traditional report ..................................................................... 13 4.5 Marae (ukaipotanga) ..................................................................................................... 14 4.6 Vision statement for the Waiwiri Catchment (lake and stream) ................................... 15 4.7 Whakatupuranga Rua Mano .......................................................................................... 15 5. Description of Waiwiri stream and lake catchment & its degradation ............................... 16 6. Wai Paru – impact of “the Pot” in our rohe ......................................................................... 22 7. Our history of occupation at Waiwiri lake and stream ........................................................ 26 11. Loss of land at Muhunoa & Waiwiri by coercion & individualisation ................................ 33 12. Access issues – from past to present ................................................................................. 37 13. Wāhi tapu, wāhi whakahirahira - places at Waiwiri/Muhunoa significant to Ngāti Kikopiri, Ngāti Pareraukawa, & Ngāti Hikitanga .................................................................................... 39 14. Cultural Health Index survey of Waiwiri stream – 6th Dec, 2017 ....................................... 44 15. Mitigation Options Proposed by HDC’s Consultants - Lowe Enviromental Impact ........... 45 16. Recommendation from our Three Hapū ........................................................................... 46 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................. 48 Appendices ............................................................................................................................... 52 2 20.3.18 1. Introduction Rārangi maunga, tū i te ao, tū i te pō. Rārangi tangata, ka ngaro! The ranges of mountains stand steadfast through time, however lines of humankind fall as time goes by. This Cultural Impact Assessment report has been written with the involvement of members of the three existing currently-recognized Ngāti Raukawa hapū affected by the waste-water disposal system established by the Horowhenua District Council – Ngāti Kikopiri, Ngāti Pareraukawa and Ngāti Hikitanga. It expresses our mana whenua and reflects our cultural values, historic occupation and mana at Waiwiri and Muhunoa, our assessment of the impact of Levin’s wastewater disposal system on our rohe, and our aspirations and recommendations for the future. It aims to build understanding of our rohe within the affected hapū, as well as enhance our ability to voice our interests and concerns within local and regional government. Our hapū have already been seriously impacted on by the current waste-water disposal system, and have grave concerns about the council’s proposal to seek consent for a further 30 years of this activity. We understand from the Council’s 2015-2025 Long Term Plan, that Ngāti Raukawa is recognized as a key stakeholder in the district, and that the council is committed to a process of consultation and engagement with local Māori (hapū and iwi).1 Research and korero with hapū members for this report has been an opportunity to better inform ourselves, build our capacity for engagement, and influence decision-making. The council is seeking consent to continue its wastewater disposal system under the Resource Management Act 1991. This Act includes section 8, which states that “all persons exercising functions and powers under (the Act), in relation to managing the use, development and protection of natural and physical resources, shall take into account the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi)”. Article 2 of the Treaty states that the Queen of England agrees to protect the rights of chiefs and hapu to their “tino rangatiratanga o o ratou whenua, o ratou kainga, me o ratou taonga katoa” – translated as “the unqualified exercise of their chieftainship over their lands, villages and all their treasures.” Also in the RMA, section 6, Matters of National Importance, (6.e) supports “the relationship of Māori and their culture and traditions with their ancestral lands, water, sites, wahi tapu and other taonga.” The report as follows outlines our cultural values, our customary occupation and the impact of colonization on our lands and people. The installation of “the Pot” in 1987 further 1 HDC 2015-2025 Long Term Plan, pp341-2. 3 20.3.18 undermined our mana and rangatiratanga and has impacted heavily on the mauri of our people and natural environment, along with other sources of pollution and degradation. The marae of Ngāti Kikopiri, Kikopiri Marae is situated on Muhunoa West Rd, and is the closest marae to lake Waiwiri, also known as Papaitonga, and Waiwiri stream. Some say the original and correct name of the lake and stream is Waiwiri, and it should be known as such.2 The marae of Ngāti Pareraukawa is Ngatokowaru, Hokio Beach Rd, and is also close by, to the north. Ngāti Hikitanga retain land near the Waiwiri stream-mouth, and have land and buildings at Parikawau, south of the Ohau river. The Waiwiri lake, stream and environs have been within our customary rohe, or hapū territory, since the 1820s. We continue to occupy and own land beside the lake and stream, and coast. The stream was particularly important to us at the time of tuna heke, when many hundreds of eels would enter the stream and swim, and even slither overland, to the coast. This was when vast numbers were caught and stored or preserved for eating later. The ngahere (bush) and swamps around the lake and stream were significant for food and resource-gathering, and the coast has also been an important wahi mataitai, a place of customary food-gathering. We fervently pray that one day these taonga will be returned to us, their rightful owners, in a restored state of health. 2. Treaty of Waitangi Claims - Context A Treaty of Waitangi claim, on behalf of Ngāti Kikopiri ki Muhunoa for the Waiwiri lake and stream system was first lodged with the Waitangi Tribunal in 1993 by Charles Te Ahukaramu Royal, under named claimants Turoa Royal and Ngawini Kuiti. This was registered as claim Wai 408. In submitting the claim, Charles wrote: “Ngāti Kikopiri ki Muhunoa is a sub-tribe of Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga. They enjoy the mana whenua of the area north of Ohau, Horowhenua, and including the Waiwiri lake and stream, and the Papa-i-tonga area generally. The Waiwiri waterways system has been under stress for many decades and today one may see critically low water levels, pollution, dried up stream banks and other such indicators of environmental stress. However, the most critical factor for tino rangatiratanga is the diminishment of the mauri of the waterways and surrounding environment. This has been mirrored in the diminishment of the mauri of Ngāti Kikopiri people and their estate. Crown management, we maintain, was and is responsible for this outcome. It has therefore been in breach of the Treaty of Waitangi and redress is 2 Royal 1992, p40. Papa-i-tonga, land or site in the south, was the name of a Muaupoko pā on an island in the lake, not the lake itself 4 20.3.18 sought. This is as a result of the imposition of the Crown and its environmental management system and other policies designed to fragment land and Ngāti Kikopiri people. This is an affront to tino rangatiratanga and is therefore in breach of the Treaty of Waitangi.” In 2011, Turoa Royal requested that his name be removed from this claim, and it remains under the name of Mrs Ngawini Kuiti. Since at least 2012 it has been held within the Tumatanui research cluster, at which time it was said to include “Waiwiri lake, stream and land confiscated by the Crown, pene raupatu (Māori Land Court).”3 On a whakapapa chart document in reference to this claim, Ngawini has written, “ahi kaa roa whānau”, which suggests the claim is specific to those whānau who have continued to live beside the lake since our occupation began. Other members of Ngāti Kikopiri have