Whanganui river hapū showcase health and wellbeing initiatives for their river

The He Pūkenga Wai Whanganui River Symposium was held at Rānana Marae.

Māori governance entity Ngā Tāngata Tiaki O Whanganui and Rānana Marae have hosted a river symposium at Rānana.

The event last Friday gave Whanganui uri [descendants] the platform to showcase a range of examples and initiatives they use to support the health and wellbeing of the Whanganui River.

Before the symposium commenced, Dr Rawiri Tinirau made reference to a whakataukī [tribal saying] coined by Morvin Te Anatipa Simon, which set the scene of the hui: “He pukenga wai, he nohoanga tāngata; he nohoanga tāngata, he putanga kōrero - where there is a body of water, people settle; where people settle, legends unfold.”

The He Pūkenga Wai River Symposium was held at Rānana.

Gordon Cribb, programme manager for Mouri Tūroa, a Jobs for Nature initiative, spoke about the ongoing efforts to work with landowners to strengthen the overall health and wellbeing of the many tributaries flowing into the Whanganui River.

Te Morehu Whenua, a rangatahi-led environmentalist group from Rānana Marae, not only shared their learnings about key freshwater species, but created costumes to visually support their kōrero.

Te Mata Pūau, the collective of hapū working within the Whanganui Port Revitalisation project – Te Pūwaha, introduced their learnings and shared the path that has been paved to date.

Kimmy Ranginui presented He Kākano Ahau, which highlighted the likeness between a seed and people as she shared her experiences in building seed banks and seed regeneration.

He Pūkenga Wai River Symposium.

Ngā Tāngata Tiaki O Whanganui chairwoman Sheena Maru rounded off the day by reinforcing the importance of river hapū sharing their own stories and continuing to learn and grow together.

The collective aspiration is to continue to improve and protect the health and wellbeing of Te Awa Tupua o Whanganui [Whanganui River].

He Pūkenga Wai River Symposium.

This report was produced under the Public Interest Journalism initiative, funded by NZ on Air.