Iwi set to reserve parts of Whanganui River for annual tribal journey

Travellers will be asked to steer clear of sections of the Whanganui River in January to allow iwi to hold their annual river journey uninterrupted.

Iwi are set for the first time to activate a customary activities provision in legislation to reserve sections of the Whanganui River for the sole use of their annual tribal wānanga.

Iwi river entity Ngā Tāngata Tiaki o Whanganui has given notice that it intends to activate the provision set out in the Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act 2017. The notice has been given to river users and decision-makers, including the Department of Conservation (DoC), local government and tour and jetboat operators.

Ngā Tāngata Tiaki kaihautū/CEO Nancy Tuaine said the provision would be activated for the two-week river wānanga, the Tira Hoe Waka, in January next year. Sections of the river will be reserved solely for the Tira Hoe Waka on the dates it travels those parts of the river.

“For a long time, through this whole journey, one of the things our people have always [sought] is the ability to hold kaupapa like Te Tira Hoe Waka uninterrupted,” Tuaine said.

“In giving that recognition in legislation, the terminology of customary activities is used essentially to cover anything that we do that allows us to practise our Whanganuitanga on the river or on the banks of the river, and hold wānanga such as the Tira Hoe Waka.

“Part of the settlement redress that we sought at the time was making sure that we got in that legislation the ability for us to reclaim, rebuild and hold some of our practices on the awa in a way that’s not interrupted by other users or that interrupts the flow or the mauri of those activities.”

Tuaine said the Act allowed iwi to activate the provision when it was ready.

“Our readiness and preparedness to do so has been built up over time since 2017. We’re now in a space of building and of being able to implement these provisions in the Act.”

She said hui had been held over the past year with DoC and concessionaires who operate businesses on the river to ensure they had enough notice to manage their bookings, were fully informed and were able to raise any questions.

“We laid some foundations and had conversations first, hearing what people had to say. We’ve tried to reach out to everybody. In the main, they’re very supportive.

“The [Te Awa Tupua] Act coming into force meant they had to adapt and accept that things are going to change in relation to our awa. Their readiness to accept some of that change has grown over that time. All they asked for at that time was sufficient notice so that they didn’t take bookings that they then had to cancel.”

Formal notice was given to river operators and users late last month to align with the opening of DoC’s 2023 campsite booking season.

The advance notice was to ensure that any bookings made for river activities, including stays at DoC campsites, do not clash with the period that iwi will be travelling the awa between January 5 and 17.

“This is starting to give life and shape to some of the aspirations of our people – that we would one day be able to hold a Tira without jetboats passing by, without rescuing canoeists as we travel down the river. The provision allows other kaupapa to happen as well,” Tuaine said.

“We’ve achieved, for this first time, uninterrupted use of the awa. It’s probable that we’ll use this time to do things that we might not have previously been able to do because we had too much traffic going back and forth.”

The Tira Hoe Waka 2024 begins on January 5 in Taumarunui, staying at one DoC campsite and 10 marae along the Whanganui River. It ends on January 17 at Putiki Marae near the mouth of the river.

* Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air