Te Urewera Te Urewera | |
|---|---|
 Lake Waikaremoana in Te Urewera | |
 | |
| Coordinates:38°27′S177°03′E / 38.45°S 177.05°E /-38.45; 177.05 | |
| Location | Bay of Plenty Region,Hawke's Bay,Gisborne District |
| Range | Ikawhenua Range,Huiarau Range |
| Native name | Te Urewera |
Te Urewera is an area of mostly forested, sparsely populated rugged hill country in theNorth Island ofNew Zealand, located inland between theBay of Plenty andHawke Bay. Te Urewera is therohe (historical home) ofTūhoe, aMāoriiwi (tribe) known for its stance onMāori sovereignty.[1]
In 1954, a large area of Te Urewera was designatedTe Urewera National Park by theNew Zealand Government. In 2014 after aWaitangi Tribunal settlement with Tūhoe, the national park was disestablished and the former area was givenenvironmental personhood. This area is now managed by Te Urewera Board, a body composed of both members who represent Tūhoe and the New Zealand Government.
Outside of the protected area, Te Urewera includes land administered asWhirinaki Te Pua-a-Tāne Conservation Park,Onekawa Te Mawhai Regional Park, customary private land owned by Tūhoe, the settlements ofRuatoki North,Waimana,Tāneatua, and privately owned land.
The extent of Te Urewera is not formally defined, but is shown by Te Urewera Board as extending from the shores of theŌhiwa Harbour of theBay of Plenty to south ofLake Waikaremoana, and includes theHuiarau Range andIkawhenua Range.[2] According toAn Encyclopaedia of New Zealand (1966), "The Urewera Country originally included all lands east of theRangitaiki River and west of a line along the lowerWaimana River and the upper reaches of theWaioeka River. Its southern boundary was marked byMaungataniwha Mountain, theWaiau River, andLake Waikaremoana."[3] Much of it is mountainous country, covered with native forest, and it includes theHuiarau,Ikawhenua, andMaungapohatu ranges.[3] There are a few flat mountain valleys, chiefly the Ahikereru valley, where the settlements ofMinginui andTe Whaiti are, and theRuatāhuna valley. In the north, towardsWhakatāne and the coast, are lowland areas, where the settlements ofTāneatua,Ruatoki andWaimana are located.[4] Lake Waikaremoana andLake Waikareiti are in the south-eastern part.
Most of Te Urewera is in the easternBay of Plenty Region and northernHawke's Bay Region, with a small part in theGisborne District. All the settlements are outside the protected area. The region is isolated, with State Highway 38 being the only major arterial road crossing it, running fromWaiotapu nearRotorua viaMurupara toWairoa.
The nameTe Urewera is aMāori phrase meaning "The Burnt Penis"[5] (compareMāori:ure,lit. 'penis';Māori:wera,lit. 'burnt').
Because of its isolation and dense forest, Te Urewera remained largely untouched by British colonists until the early 20th century; in the 1880s it was still in effect under Māori control.Te Kooti, a Māori leader, found refuge from his pursuers among Tūhoe, with whom he formed an alliance. As with theKing Country at the time, fewPākehā risked entering Te Urewera.[1]
Between 1894 and 1912, with the approval of a Crown statute, the Urewera District Native Reserve Act 1896, leaders of Tūhoe were able to establish a traditional sanctuary known as the Urewera District Native Reserve, which had virtual home rule. However, between 1915 and 1926 the Crown mounted what has been called "a predatory purchase campaign", the Urewera Consolidation Scheme, which took some 70 percent of the reserve and relocated the Tūhoe to more than 200 small blocks of land scattered throughout what in 1954 became the Urewera National Park.[6][7]
In the early 20th centuryRua Kenana Hepetipa formed a religious community atMaungapōhatu.
In 1999, theWaitangi Tribunal published a 520-page working paper which analysed the history of the region and concluded that the Crown had never intended to allow Tūhoe self-government.[8] Between 2003 and 2005, a panel of the Waitangi Tribunal consisting of Judge Pat Savage,Joanne Morris, Tuahine Northover, and Ann Parsonson heard evidence on land claims in Te Urewera and designated an area which it called the Te Urewera inquiry district. Part One of its report, covering the period up to 1872, was published in July 2009 and found that the Crown had treated Tūhoe unfairly, especially with regard to the confiscation of a large area of land in the Eastern Bay of Plenty in 1866.[9]
In 1954 much of Te Urewera was designated as theTe Urewera National Park, but that was disestablished in 2014, to be replaced by a new legal entity simply called Te Urewera.[10]
A land settlement was signed in June 2013 after being ratified by all Tūhoe members.[11][12] Under this, Tūhoe received financial, commercial and cultural redress valued at approximately $170 million; a historical account and Crown apology; and theco-governance of Te Urewera,[13][14] put into law by enacting the Tūhoe Claims Settlement Act 2014.[15]
The protected area is now administered by the Te Urewera Board, which comprises joint Tūhoe and Crown membership.[10] Te Urewera haslegal personhood, and owns itself,[16] having in 2014 become the first natural resource in the world to be awarded the same legal rights as a person.[17][18]
The new entity continues to meet theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature criteria for a Category II National Park.[19]
As of 2022, the members of the Te Urewera Board areJim Bolger ofTe Kūiti, a former prime minister of New Zealand, Maynard Manuka Apiata of Rūātoki, Lance Winitana of Waikaremoana, Marewa Titoko of Waimana, Te Tokawhakāea Tēmara of Rotorua, Tāmati Kruger of Taneatua, Dave Bamford, a sustainable tourism consultant,John Wood, previously a chief Crown negotiator, and Jo Breese, a former chief executive ofWorld Wildlife Fund New Zealand.[20]
All North Island native-forest bird species, except for theweka, live in the area.[21] The crown fern (Blechnum discolor) is a widespreadunderstory plant.[22]
Tūhoe are guardians of the lands they named 'Te Urewera', the Burnt Penis. Its fearsome name depicts the fate of Mura-kareke, a son of Tuhoe-potiki, the eponymous ancestor. One version narrates that Mura-kareke chose this death in protest at his sons' treatment of their youngest brother, his 'favourite' child. A different and grimmer version tells that Mura-kareke burnt the severed penis of his younger brother, Mura-anini, in a cooking fire. This was his revenge for Mura-anini's adultery with Mura-kareke's wife. Both versions – one stoic, one savagely vengeful – recall family lines in conflict.