Mātauranga Māori adds to awa knowledge

Memories flowed like the waters through the Mangawhero awa during two cultural monitoring days held on Ātihau- Whanganui Incorporation farming stations earlier this year.

During both days whānau shared stories of their tupuna and reflected on their early years as they visited three waterways - Ararawa on Ohorea Station, Hapuawhenua on Tohunga Station and an unnamed tributary above Raukawa Falls on Te Paenga Station - providing an insight into how the waterways have changed over the years.

Ngā Waihua o Paerangi, previously Ngāti Rangi Trust, have been commissioned to run a five-year project to monitor these waterways. Results will combine western science and mātauranga Māori to provide a more holistic assessment. This is the first time this type of monitoring has been conducted on Ātihau- Whanganui Inc farms.

Amoa Hawira and Megan Younger, Kairangahau Taiao from Ngā Waihua o Paerangi, work on the project. Both also whakapapa to Ngāti Rangi.

“It was a huge thing for whānau to come back to places they hadn’t been to in years. That was beautiful in itself,” says Amoa. “Most didn’t realise that what they had to say was valuable to us. They were just having a good old yarn and reminiscing with people they haven’t seen for ages. Bringing them all together to walk the land, to be by these places and letting them talk was so rewarding.”

Whānau described the native shrubs and vegetation that used to grow in the area, and also reflected on where they gathered kai, lived, played and hunted.

“Yes, we know everything is different now, but hopefully with the help of this project we can get a balance where our waterways are not suffering because of a new practice on these lands,” says Amoa. “This work is a valuable way of tracking this progress.”

Before the mātauranga Māori work began, a stocktake of the three waterways was undertaken to determine their current water quality. A Stream Ecological Evaluation was completed during February and March this year. This was when the streams were running at their lowest. The same tests at the same locations will also be conducted each year for the next four years.

Megan says being part of the cultural monitoring days enabled her to learn from whānau and she also shared information about how the recent ecological monitoring was undertaken.

“It was nice to take everybody out there and to see through their lens. I was also able to answer questions they had about the types of monitoring I had done and why it was important. So it was good learning on both parts,” says Megan.

The ecological monitoring will be completed every year and another round of cultural monitoring will be completed in 2023. The results are important as all of the sampled waterway catchment area is on Ātihau-Whanganui Inc farmland.

“We will be able to see if there have been any changes in the five-year period,” says Megan. “The overall results will add value to the scientific data. Ideally we hope to have the same whānau come back to again share their feedback.”

Ātihau-Whanganui Inc CEO Andrew Beijeman is looking forward to seeing the initial baseline results over the next few months. He is pleased Ātihau-Whanganui Inc partnered with Ngā Waihua o Paerangi on this project.

“This is the first time we have done this type of monitoring and we will be tracking progress. We are excited to see the improvements made over time,” says Andrew.