Hauora: Whenua - Connection to the Land

Te toto o te tangata, 

he kai; te oranga o te tangata, 

he whenua.

While food provides the blood in our veins, our health is drawn from the land.

BACKGROUND

Whenua is part of Te Whare Tapa Whā, the Māori health model developed by Sir Mason Durie.

The Mental Health Foundation describes whenua as:

...the place where you stand. It is your connection to the land – a source of life, nourishment and wellbeing for everyone.Whenua includes soil, rocks, plants, animals and people – the tangata whenua. We are linked physically and spiritually to the land – it is the earth through which you are connected to your tūpuna/ancestors and all the generations that will come after you.

You can also think about whenua as your place of belonging – that means the spaces where you feel comfortable, safe and able to be yourself. It could be around your friends, at home with whānau, as part of a sports team or even at your place of study or mahi/work.

CONTENTS

• Belonging
• Tūrangawaewae: Māori connection to the whenua
• Pepeha 
• Creation narratives: Kōrero pūrākau
• Māori disconnection from land & the impact on health
• New Zealand Wars - Ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa
• Land protests
• Te Tiriti o Waitangi - The Treaty of Waitangi
• Connecting to whenua through haka, waiata, moteatea and oriori
• Māori artists & connection to the whenua
• Pākehā and connection to the land
• Places of historic significance
• Places of cultural significance to Māori
• How do we define 'historic significance'?
• Our history of caring for & preserving historic places
• Pacific peoples and connection to the whenua
• Other indigenous cultures' perspectives on land
• Glossary.

BELONGING 

As explained by the Mental Health Foundation, having access to places where you feel you belong and can connect to the whenua greatly improve mental health and wellbeing.

Statistics on wellbeing from 2016 show that New Zealander's have a strong sense of belonging to Aotearoa:

• those aged over 75 years have the greatest sense of belonging, while those aged between 15-24 years have the least
• Māori and Pacific peoples' sense of belonging is the strongest, but only by a small margin above European and Asian peoples
• males and females report very similar levels of belonging
• Northland has the highest percentage of people who feel a sense of belonging at 91.2%, followed by the Gisborne/Hawkes Bay region at 90.3%.

Read this inspiring story from Papa Taiao Earthcare about a group of students who's lives were transformed by spending time working with the whenua. Or, listen to this Radio New Zealand interview with students who took part in the mahi.

Māori singer/song writer Te Karehana Gardiner-Toi, or TEEKS, appeared on the Sunday program and talked about his strong sense of belonging to the Hokianga, as well as how he expresses his identity through his music.

TŪRANGAWAEWAE: MĀORI CONNECTION TO THE WHENUA

Tūrangawaewae is one of the most well-known and powerful Māori concepts. Literally tūranga (standing place), waewae (feet), it is often translated as ‘a place to stand’. Tūrangawaewae are places where we feel especially empowered and connected. They are our foundation, our place in the world, our home.  

Tāwhiao, the second Māori king, referred to tūrangawaewae in a saying:

Ko Arekahānara tōku haona kaha

Ko Kemureti tōku oko horoi

Ko Ngāruawāhia tōku tūrangawaewae. 

Alexandra [Pirongia township] will ever be a symbol of my strength of character 

Cambridge a symbol of my wash bowl of sorrow 

And Ngāruawāhia my footstool. 

Source: Tūrangawaewae - a place to stand — Papatūānuku – the land, Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.    

King Tāwhiao’s granddaughter, Te Puea Hērangi, fulfilled this saying when she established Tūrangawaewae marae at Ngāruawāhia. A person’s marae (tribal forum for social life) is often seen as their tūrangawaewae. For each person, the marae is the place where their ancestors are present, where they spend their formative years and learn important lessons. They gain the right to stand upon their marae and proclaim their views about the world and life. 

Source: Tūrangawaewae - a place to stand — Papatūānuku – the land, Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.   

Find out about more about Tūrangawaewae marae and the Kingitanga movement in this Roadside Story.

The short film Turangawaewae / A Place to Stand by Peter Burger is a moving story about a man jolted to find his turangawaewae, and the whānau that helps him get there. 

Māori Maps in a website where you can find information about marae throughout Aotearoa.

In the concept of tūrangawaewae, the external world is a reflection of an inner sense of security and foundation. The mountains, rivers and waterways to which one can claim a relationship also express this internal sense of foundation.  

Source:  Tūrangawaewae - a place to stand — Papatūānuku – the land, Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. 

Ko te kauri ko au, 

ko au ko kauri.

I am the kauri, 

the kauri is me.

Read This river in New Zealand is a legal person. How will it use it's voice? from National Geographic about the Wanganui River and it's importance to local iwi. 

Watch this short video in which dancer and choreographer Louise Potiki Bryant talks about how she explores the relationships between people and whenua through dance.

In Māori culture, humans are seen as deeply connected to the land and to the natural world. Kaitiakitanga grows out of this connection and expresses it in a modern context. 

Tangata whenua – literally, people of the land – are a group who have authority in a particular place, because of their ancestors’ relationship to it. Humans and the land are seen as one, and people are not superior to nature. The natural world is able to ‘speak’ to humans and give them knowledge and understanding. Human life is about aligning oneself with the natural world. 

Source: Connected to nature — Kaitiakitanga – guardianship and conservation, Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

View History of Māori Land published by Te Puna Kōkiri for easy to read information about events through history that have shaped the current state of Māori land.

PEPEHA

Te Aka, the Māori Dictionary defines pepeha as:

Tribal saying, tribal motto, proverb (especially about a tribe), set form of words, formulaic expression, saying of the ancestors, figure of speech, motto, slogan - set sayings known for their economy of words and metaphor and encapsulating many Māori values and human characteristics. 

Pepeha is a way in which Māori introduce themselves through identifying their connections to the whenua. In it's most basic form a pepeha would include the mountain, and river, lake or ocean that a person connects to within their rohe. An example for iwi Ngāti Porou says:

Ko Hikurangi te maunga 

Ko Waiapu te awa

Ko Ngāti Porou te iwi

Hikurangi is the mountain 

Waiapu is the river 

Ngāti Porou is the tribe

Other connections that can be made are to ancestral waka, tīpuna/tūpuna, hapū and marae.

Watch the Youtube clip Pepeha to learn more.

These texts explain the meaning of pepeha and provide a guide to help everyone, Māori and Pākehā, to compose their own:

• Pepeha 
• Tōku Pepeha 

CREATION NARRATIVES — KŌRERO PŪRĀKAU 

Māori tribes all have stories about how New Zealand was created, and how its mountains, rivers, lakes and hot springs were shaped.

In one legend the demigod Māui pulled up a huge fish from the sea, which became the North Island. His canoe became the South Island, and its anchor Stewart Island.

In another well-known story, the land is from the womb of Papatūānuku, the earth mother, whose body lies under the water.

Source: Whenua – how the land was shaped, Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

Storytelling was considered an art by Māori, and was undertaken by highly skilled people. Read more about kōrero pūrākau in this Te Ara story.

Kupe is an important ancestor from the Polynesian homeland, Hawaiki. According to tradition, when he arrived in New Zealand there was only one island. He is said to have split the land, forming the North and South islands. One of the Māori names for Cook Strait, which flows between the islands, is 'te moana a Kupe’ (the sea of Kupe). 

Source: Whenua – how the land was shaped, Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. 

Watch a Roadside Story about Kupe here.

Read more about how Māori view the whenua through these stories from Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand:

• kaitiakitanga
• Papatūānuku
• rongoa
• whakapapa

In Māori tradition, Papatūānuku is the land. She is a mother earth figure who gives birth to all things, including people. Trees, birds and people are born from the land, which then nourishes them. 

Source: Papatūānuku – the land, Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand

In 2018, a group of rangatahi travelled to New York and presented to the UN Indigenous Issues Permanent Forum. Read about how their first task was to challenge the overall theme of the forum. 

MĀORI DISCONNECTION FROM LAND AND THE IMPACT ON HEALTH

Land has been alienated from Māori in a variety of ways. Some was sold to the government or other buyers, often for very low prices; other areas were confiscated after the New Zealand wars and used for Pākehā settlement. The Native Land Court converted customary title to freehold, often leading to further losses of land. 

Not all confiscated land was retained by the Crown. Much was returned to Māori, although not always to its original owners. Some ‘returned’ areas were then purchased by the Crown. This happened at Tauranga, where a large part of the ‘returned’ area was purchased from a group of Ngāi Te Rangi chiefs and vested in the Crown shortly afterwards. 

Source: Te tango whenua – Māori land alienation, Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

The influx of settlers led to a demand for land, and from the 1840s Māori were under great pressure to sell their ancestral territories. Loss of Māori land – through confiscation following the 1860s wars, Crown purchase and the Native Land Court – led to the displacement of large numbers of Māori. Deprived of their land, tribes were in many instances reduced to poverty, with no option but to live in overcrowded and unhygienic conditions. Losing land, they also lost access to traditional food sources. Lack of resources, overcrowding and poor diet helped disease to take hold and spread. 

Source:  Effects of colonisation on Māori — Death rates and life expectancy, Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

NEW ZEALAND WARS — NGĀ PAKANGA O AOTEAROA

In the 1840s and 1860s conflict over sovereignty and land led to battles between government forces and some Māori tribes. The largest campaign was the clash between the Māori king and the Crown. Land confiscations to punish tribes that fought against the Crown have left a long legacy of grievances. 

Source: New Zealand wars, Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. 

Learn more about the New Zealand Wars from these National Library Topic Explorer sets.

LAND PROTESTS

Māori protest about land dates back to the 19th century. Māori protested against land loss through petitions and occupations and by destroying survey pegs. Pan-tribal movements, including the Kīngitanga (Māori King movement) and Kotahitanga (Māori parliament movement), were often formed to advocate for Māori land issues. One movement in Hawke’s Bay, the Repudiation movement, was formed specifically to repudiate land sales that had taken place as inappropriate and unfair. 

In 1975 a hīkoi (march) took place from Te Hāpua in the far north to Parliament in Wellington to protest about land loss. Whina Cooper, the inaugural president of the Māori Women’s Welfare League, led Te Roopu o te Matakite, the group that organised the hīkoi. The march was similar to the Trail of Broken Treaties, a protest by Native American organisations in the US in 1972. 

Source: Land protests — Ngā rōpū tautohetohe – Māori protest movements, Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

Explore this topic further through our Topic Explorer set Māori Protests.

Watch the TEDx talk, Ihumātao: Recognising indigenous heritage, in which Pania Newton speaks about the significance of Ihumatao to her hapū and iwi.

This short video, Raupatu: Land confiscations explained, is an excellent summary of the history of land confiscation in Aotearoa which has led to land protests, including Ihumatao. 

Find out about one of New Zealand's most well-known land protest actions at Takaparawhau or Bastion Point in Auckland in the 1970s by watching this Roadside Story, Reclaiming Bastion Point.  

TE TIRITI O WAITANGI — THE TREATY OF WAITANGI

The war and protest that occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries in Aotearoa, in large part as a result of land loss, is evidence of the deep connection that Māori have to the whenua.   

Learn about how the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi - Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and war and protest over land in New Zealand, are related through our Topic Explorer set Treaty of Waitangi, the National Library's He Tohu site, or Te Ara.

CONNECTING TO WHENUA THROUGH HAKA, WAIATA & MŌTEATEA

Haka, waita and moteatea continue to play an integral role in sustaining connection to whenua and tīpuna/tūpuna through whakapapa. Find out more about these art forms through the following Te Ara stories:

• Kapa haka - Māori performing arts
• Waiata tawhito - traditional Māori songs
• Māori composers

MĀORI ARTISTS AND CONNECTION TO THE WHENUA

Many Māori artists, writers, musicians and film-makers have explored their deep connection to the whenua, as well as the loss of that connection, particularly from the mid 20th century, which saw the beginnings of the so-called 'Māori renaissance'. Some of these influential New Zealanders are listed below; click on their names to find out more:

• Arnold Wilson (sculpture)
• Buk Nin (painting)
• Cliff Whiting (master carver)
• Darcy Nicholas (sculpture, painting)
• Diggeress Te Kanawa (raranga)
• Emare (Emily) Karaka (painting)
• Eramiha Neke Kapua (master carver)
• Erenora Puketapu-Hetet (raranga) 
• Fred Graham (carving, sculpture)
• Kura Te Waru Rewiri (painting)
• Manos Nathan (clay sculpture)
• Merata Mita (film making)
• Paratene Matchitt (painting, printmaking, sculpture)
• Ralph Hotere (painting, sculpture)
• Robert Janke (design, illustration, animation, sculpture) 
• Robyn Kahukiwa (painting)
• Sandy Adsett (painting, carving, weaving)
• Selwyn Muru (painting)
• Wi Taepa (carving, clay sculpture)
• Witi Ihimaera (writing)

Learn more about Contemporary Māori art – ngā toi hōu from this Te Ara story.

Also view the National Library's Topic Explorer set Traditional and Contemporary Māori Art for further resources.

Hone Tuwhare is considered one of Aotearoa's most distinguished poets. Listen to him reading his poem Papa-tu-a-Nuku, written while he took part in the famous hīkoi from Te Hapua in the north to parliament buildings in Wellington in 1975. Tuwhare's poems are strongly rooted in New Zealand and often articulate Māori perspectives on connection to the whenua.

You can read his biography on Te Ara here, as well as "...it won’t be a lonely walk” – commemorating the 40th anniversary of the ‘Not One Acre More’ hīkoi, a blog post by Puawai Cairns of Te Papa, which is accompanied by stunning images of the hikoi by photographer Ans Westra. 

PĀKEHĀ AND CONNECTION TO THE LAND

The first Europeans in New Zealand found its landscapes desolate and forbidding – unless they could be used for farming, gold mining or timber. ‘A mountain here is only beautiful if it has good grass on it … if it is good for sheep, it is beautiful, magnificent, and all the rest; if not, it is not worth looking at,’ wrote Samuel Butler in 1863. Later, unspoilt lakes, forests and snowy peaks became central to the notion of ‘beautiful New Zealand’. 

By the beginning of the 20th century, a limited appreciation of the New Zealand landscape (by Pākehā) had developed. A few well-known beauty spots – Mitre Peak, Aoraki/Mt Cook, the Drop Scene on the Whanganui River, Mt Ruapehu – had been preserved and had become iconic.

Yet there was still some suspicion of the bush and nostalgia for the English countryside. Alan Mulgan noted in his 1958 book The making of a New Zealander that the largely dark green and blue landscape of 1840 would have been monotonous. English trees and crops had added beauty, colour and seasonal variation. Cutting down the bush was still largely equated with progress.

Source: Perceptions of the landscape, Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

As generations of Pākehā lived and worked on the land, and memories of Britain and Europe became distant, strong connections to Aotearoa developed. 

Pākehā artists and writers of the 20th century played an important role in reflecting our changing identity and recording these developing connections. Just a few of the key figures were:

• Allen Curnow (1911-2001)  
• Colin McCahon (1919-1987)  
• Don Binney ( 1940-2012)
• Doris Lusk (1916-1990)  
• James K Baxter (1926-1972)
• Janet Frame (1924-2004)
• Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) 
• Rita Angus (1908-1970)
• Toss Woollaston (1910-1998)

Find out more about these New Zealanders and their work by following the links to their biographies on Te Ara. 

QUICK FACTS

• Many of the early settlers from Britain and Europe were farmers; they worked under difficult conditions to clear land for farming.
• Families often found themselves in isolated areas where neighbours were far away and 'making do' with what was available to hand was the norm.
• For Pākehā, the family farm became a common form of land ownership throughout New Zealand from the 1890s.
• Until the 1960s, many Pākehā New Zealanders still felt strong ties to Britain and Europe.
• Some families found conditions so tough in rural New Zealand that they abandoned the land and sought work in towns and cities instead.

The following Roadside Stories, produced by Manatū Toanga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, give an insight into how the first waves of Pākehā settlers, as well as later immigrants, connected with Aotearoa as their new home:

• A long road over Haast Pass
• Bombay to Bombay
• Chew Chong, Taranaki entrepreneur
• Dargaville - from kauri gum to kūmara
• Dunedin - Edinburgh of the south
• Gold fever in Hokitika
• Lumsden, powering ahead
• Pahiātua's 'Little Poland'
• Peacocks and zebras on Kawau Island
• Picton and its ships
• Pūhoi, up the bohai
• Waipu, a Scottish settlement

Read about the history of Chinese people in Aotearoa in these stories from Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, and New Zealand History.

Watch this video about Meng Fong and his connections to the Gisborne area. Meng Fong was the mayor of Gisborne and is fluent in te reo Māori. In 2019, he became Aotearoa's Race Relations Commissioner.

French, Dalmatian and Dutch people were among other early settlers from European and Scandinavian countries. Learn how these immigrants forged connections to the land through these Te Ara stories:

• Dalmatians
• Dutch
• French
• Germans
• Italians
• Other Western Europeans
• Scandinavians

Pākehā artist Richard Ellis produced many works representing Rakaumangamanga in Pēowhairangi, the Bay of Islands. In this interview, he talks about the strong connection he developed with this maunga through many years of learning about it's significance to mana whenua.

PLACES OF HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE

Many places in Aotearoa are important to both Māori and Pākehā. These places are locations where we can connect first-hand with ancestors, important historical figures and events from our past. This helps us to better understand our place in the world, as well as make considered plans for the future. 

In Heritage New Zealand's publication, Tapuwae, Sir Apirana Ngata says:

Māori heritage is imbued with mana and spirituality that endure through generations. It lives on through relationships of people and place. Māori heritage places give meaning and prestige to the history, traditions, culture and identity of whānau, hapū and iwi. They are taonga, each with their own mana and mauri, to be maintained and cared for under the obligations that stem from kaitiakitanga, or Māori cultural guardianship. Kaitiakitanga responsibilities and obligations descend to tribal members according to whakapapa and ancestral association. Heritage places include sacred and historic sites, ancestral places, tribal landmarks, cultural landscapes, and built heritage features such as marae and church buildings, structures and monuments.

Click here to visit the Department of Conservation's list of 660 historic sites that are under their care nationwide. 

New Zealand History also has A history of New Zealand in 100 places, an updated digital adaptation of Gavin McLean’s 2002 book, 100 Historic Places in New Zealand.  The author says:

I chose some because they are beautiful, but most are either places where people created turning points in our history or they are ones that represent major historic themes. 

PLACES OF CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE TO MĀORI

There are many places throughout Aotearoa that are of significance to Māori. 

Here you will find DOC's Māori sites page which provides details of sites they look after by region, from Northland to Southland. The Department manages around 10,000 of these sites, ranging from places of early settlement to nineteenth-century economic, spiritual and military sites.

Te Ara provides a map showing the landing places of a number of the first waka to arrive in Aotearoa; these are among the most significant sites for Māori.

HOW DO WE DEFINE 'HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE'?

The question of who decides what is or is not worthy of preservation and protection as an historic site is an interesting one because different groups have different ideas and understandings based on their worldview.

The Ministry for the Environment tells us that:

'New Zealand's cultural heritage places and objects can be roughly divided into four overlapping categories: places of significance to Māori; archaeological sites; historic buildings and structures; and cultural landscapes.

Historic buildings and structures are, to many New Zealanders, the most obvious face of historic heritage. As well as buildings, these places include fortifications, ruins, lighthouses, bridges, industrial sites and, of course, the many cemeteries whose monuments and plaques provide the last, and often only, tangible testimony to a person's existence.' 

OUR HISTORY OF CARING FOR AND PRESERVING HISTORIC PLACES

A growing public appreciation of New Zealand’s historic places was evident in the Scenery Preservation Act 1903 (and its later amendments). It emphasised the protection of natural over built heritage, but some historic reserves included pā and battle-site remains. 

The preservation of historic sites also gained more prominence. In 1896 the government made Ship Cove in the Marlborough Sounds, where Captain James Cook had refitted his ships and rested his crews during his late-18th-century explorations of New Zealand, a reserve. A commemorative monument to Cook was unveiled on the site in 1913.

In 1916 a debate erupted over the future of the Māori rock art sites in South Canterbury and North Otago. One idea was to remove them and place them in museums, but this was resisted by Canterbury Museum director Robert Speight, who successfully argued to preserve them in situ.

Source: Historic awakenings, 1900s-1920s — Historic places, Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

The 1950 demolition of Auckland’s iconic Partington’s Mill (1850), and the threat posed to Wellington buildings including Bethune and Hunter’s warehouse (1843) and Old St Paul’s (the former Anglican cathedral, completed in 1866), increased public pressure for an organisation to highlight the importance of the nation’s historic places. This was linked to a wider cultural movement focused on creating a New Zealand identity that was distinct from that of Britain. 

The National Historic Places Trust (which became the New Zealand Historic Places Trust in 1963, and renamed Heritage New Zealand in 2014) was created by the government in 1955 to do just that. It initially focused on recording and marking historic places, much of it done by volunteers within 17 regional committees. 

The creation of the Department of Conservation in 1987 saw the heritage estate of the old Lands and Survey Department placed under the stewardship of this new body. These historic places were mainly located in rural areas and included pā sites, old industrial, defence and mining sites, lighthouses, bridges and huts. 

Source: Re-inventing historic buildings, 1930s to 1970s — Historic places, Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

Here you can view some of the series of Meet the Locals videos produced by the Department of Conservation  for school students. The following are just a selection and focus on historic structures around Aotearoa and the resilient people that built them:

• Avoca Homestead (Arthur's Pass)
• Bridge to nowhere (Wanganui)
• Bygone era (Kaweka Forest, Hawkes Bay)
• Golden Point Battery (Otago)
• Heart of coal (Denniston, West Coast)
• Kaiaraara Dam (Great Barrier Island)
• Karangahake Gorge (Bay of Plenty)
• Lindis Pass Hotel (Central Otago) 
• Living history (Mansion House, Kawau Island)
• Mana sheep (Mana Island)
• Mason Bay Homestead (Stewart Island)  
• Molesworth Station (Marlborough)
• North Head (Auckland)
• Rangitoto getaway (Auckland)
• St Bathans Bendigo (Central Otago)

PACIFIC PEOPLES AND CONNECTION TO THE WHENUA 

For many people from the Pacific Islands who arrived in Aotearoa in the 20th century, strong connections to their homeland remain and they may consider themselves to be Pacific people living in New Zealand. 

However, for those who were born here, their connection to the island home of their parents or grandparents, a place they may not have been to, can be more difficult to define. Add to this that the majority of people from the Pacific residing in New Zealand live in urban areas, and developing a connection to the land becomes difficult for many.

Read this School Journal story Welcome to Lullo Marnoo about a young New Zealand born girl's struggle with finding a connection to her Samoan roots.

Some islands nations are facing the devastating consequences of climate change.  In this short film Love to an Island a young Kiribati American film-maker Lulu DeBoer explores her relationship with her disappearing homeland of Kiribati.

People from the Pacific living in New Zealand maintain their connections to island homes through customary practices such as tattoo and tivaevae, as well as contemporary art and dance.

The Ministry of Health publication Pacific Youth Health says:

Most Pacific youth have a strong cultural and religious value base that provides a good foundation for life and citizenship. However, many Pacific youth struggle with reconciling traditional Pacific values and expectations with New Zealand values and expectations in order to establish a secure identity for themselves. 

Pacific youth appreciate that non-Pacific people enjoy various aspects of Pacific culture. They noted that it was becoming more common to see ‘Palagi’ wearing Pacific-inspired fashion and listening to Pacific music. They also noted the greater visibility of Pacific motifs and designs in advertising and interior design and décor. It was clear that greater visibility and adoption of Pacific concepts and culture in mainstream New Zealand gave Pacific youth a strong affirmation of their place in New Zealand society (Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs 2003).

QUICK FACTS

• Samoans are the largest group of people from the Pacific in New Zealand, making up almost half of the total Pacific population, according to the 2006 census.
• The Tongan community has shown the fastest growth, increasing from approximately 13,600 to 50,000 between 1986 and 2006.
• The groups with the largest populations of people born in New Zealand are Cook Islanders (73%) and Niueans (74%).
• Tokelauans have the highest average time living in Aotearoa at 29 years.
• In 2006, 97.5% of Pacific peoples lived in urban areas - 65.8% in Auckland and 12.4% in Wellington. 

PERSPECTIVES OF OTHER INDIGENOUS CULTURES

There are many records, both historical and current, that detail indigenous cultures around the world and their connection to the land. 

These words have been attributed to Chief Seattle (1786?-1866), a prominent First Nation chief from the Pacific Northwest of America:

'How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The earth is our mother. This we know, the earth does not belong to man. Man belongs to the earth. Whatever befalls the earth, befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.'

Whilst no document exists to prove that these were his words, Chief Seattle was known as a great orator who shared his people's worldview, including about their connection to the land.

This quote from Paul Gordon comes from the Australian Museum pages Indigenous Australians: Australia’s First Peoples exhibition 1996-2015.

 'A lot of people say Aboriginal people never farmed the land... never ploughed the land and they never grew wheat and they never planted apple trees and orange trees. We never had to. Our mother, the earth, she gave herself freely to us. And because we respected her and loved her, we never had to go and do all them other things. That would have been harming our mother. So we just took what she gave us.'

A short film from National Geographic, Five Indigenous Communities Fight for their Land, tells the stories of communities in South America and their struggle to retain a connection to their ancestral land.

Below are some further resources that explore the connection of indigenous cultures' to the whenua.

Connection to Country — land is of great significance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples - but the connection we feel to country can be a difficult concept for non-Indigenous people to grasp.  

Connection to the land — an article by a member of the Cree Nation of Chisasibi, a Quebec community, about his connection to the land.

Goldman prize winner — Maxima Acuña de Chaupe has won a major environmental prize for defending her land from the biggest gold-mining project in South America.

Indigenous peoples defend Earth's biodiversity —  comprising less than 5% of the world's population, indigenous people protect 80% of global biodiversity.

Kenya's Sengwer People Demand Recognition of 'Ancestral Land'— the Sengwer, an indigenous hunter-gatherer community in western Kenya, presented a petition to the government in Nairobi demanding the return and protection of what they call their ancestral lands.  

The importance of land — relationship with the land remains fundamental to the identity and way of life of many Indigenous people. 

GLOSSARY

Definitions below taken from Te Akaand the Oxford Learner's Dictionary.

awa — river, stream, creek, canal, gully, gorge, groove, furrow 

hapū— kinship group, clan, tribe, subtribe - section of a large kinship group and the primary political unit in traditional Māori society

hīkoi — to step, stride, march, walk 

iwi— extended kinship group, tribe, nation, people, nationality, race - often refers to a large group of people descended from a common ancestor and associated with a distinct territory 

kaitiakitanga— guardianship, stewardship, trusteeship, trustee

kōrero— to tell, say, speak, read, talk, address

mana— prestige, authority, control, power, influence, status, spiritual power, charisma 

marae— courtyard - the open area in front of the wharenui, where formal greetings and discussions take place. Often also used to include the complex of buildings around the marae. 

maunga — mountain, mount, peak

mauri— life principle, life force, vital essence, special nature, a material symbol of a life principle, source of emotions - the essential quality and vitality of a being or entity. Also used for a physical object, individual, ecosystem or social group in which this essence is located. 

mōteatea — lament, traditional chant, sung poetry - a general term for songs sung in traditional mode

pūrākau — myth, ancient legend, story 

taonga— treasure, anything prized - applied to anything considered to be of value including socially or culturally valuable objects, resources, phenomenon, ideas and techniques 

rangatahi — younger generation, youth

raranga — weaving

rohe — boundary, district, region, territory, area, border (of land). 

wāhi tapu — sacred place, sacred site - a place subject to long-term ritual restrictions on access or use, e.g. a burial ground, a battle site or a place where tapu objects were placed

waka— canoe 

ENGLISH

advocate—  a person who supports or speaks in favour of somebody or of a public plan or action 

alienated—  alienate somebody (from something/somebody) to make somebody feel that they do not belong in a particular group 

aligning— align something (with/to something) to change something slightly so that it is in the correct relationship to something else 

customary — if something is customary, it is what people usually do in a particular place or situation 

desolate—  (of a place) empty and without people, making you feel sad or frightened 

deprived —  suffering from a lack of the thing mentioned 

displacement — the act of forcing somebody/something away from their home or position 

distinguished — very successful and admired by other people 

endure— to experience and deal with something that is painful or unpleasant without giving up 

forbidding — seeming unfriendly and frightening 

formative— having an important and lasting influence on the development of something or of somebody’s character 

grievances— something that you think is unfair and that you complain or protest about; a feeling that you have been badly treated 

iconic — being a famous person or thing that people admire and see as a symbol of a particular idea, way of life, etc. 

indigenous — belonging to a particular place rather than coming to it from somewhere else 

inaugural — first, and marking the beginning of something important, for example the time when a new leader or parliament starts work, when a new organization is formed or when something is used for the first time 

insight — an understanding of what something is like 

in situ— in the original or correct place 

legacy— a situation that exists now because of events, actions, etc. that took place in the past 

monotonous — never changing and therefore boring 

nostalgia— a sad feeling mixed with pleasure when you think of happy times in the past 

nourishment — food that is needed to stay alive, grow and stay healthy 

pan-tribal — a social grouping which is not determined by family membership (non-kin), and which extends across an entire tribe.  

prestige— the respect and value that somebody/something has because of their social position, or what they have done 

proclaim— to publicly and officially tell people about something important 

repudiate — to refuse to accept something 

sovereignty— complete power to govern a country 

stewardship— the act of taking care of or managing something, for example property, an organization, money or valuable objects 

unveiled— to show or introduce a new plan, product, etc. to the public for the first time 

vested— to make somebody the legal owner of land or property 

This story was curated and compiled by Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa | National Library of New Zealand, Services to Schools staff, September 2020.