The Rights of Nature and People are Inseparable: Whanganui River

written by Shaelyn Lau

The Maori culture and the Whanganui Iwi in particular have always considered the River as a living being that is inseparable from themselves. In fact, the Iwi’s primary ancestors are Parangi and Ruatipua, whom draw lifeforce from the headwaters of the Whanganui River on Mount Tongariro and its tributaries which stretch to the sea (Whanganui Iwi and the Crown, 2014). Julie Herewini displayed and spoke to us about the responsibility framework developed within the Whanganui River agreement which includes particular elements that demonstrate the connectedness of the Iwi to the Awa:

Ngā wai inuinu o Ruatipua ēnā

Ngā manga iti, ngā manga nui e honohono kau ana

Ka hono, ka tupu, hei awa

Hei Awa Tupua

~

Those are the drinking fonts of Ruatipua

The small and large streams which flow into one another

And continue to link, and swell until a river is formed

Te Awa 1Tupua

E rere kau mai te Awa nui

Mai I te Kāhui Maunga ki Tangaroa

Ko au te Awa, ko to Awa ko au

~

The Great River flows 

From the Mountain to the Sea

I am the River and the River is me

I also discovered the depth of the interconnectedness to the River and its people through stories told by Auntie Wai and Tanya. A specific story that comes to mind is the story that Auntie Wai told about how the Awa spoke to her on the day that she found out her father had passed: she was on a waka navigating the Awa just like any other day, but there was something that had caught her eye. It was a log, covered in mud and debris that had a very dark essence to it… it was traveling in the opposite direction of the current in which she flowed. This black log was swarming with black flies. She wondered what it could be that the Awa was telling her, when she received a call from her whanau… her father had passed away and she was to get off of the River immediately (Auntie Wai, personal communication, May 29, 2019). Auntie Wai told us this story with the intention to tell us that the Awa is always speaking to us, that it is always telling us what we need to hear/know because it is that full of life and knowledge. 

Auntie Wai’s story touched me not only because I could relate to the fact that she has lost her father, but I could also relate to listening to what the Awa has to tell us. In our morning rituals/ceremonies done in preparation of taking on the Awa, Ash suggested we think of an intention before going on the River, for it has the ability to listen to use just as much as we have the ability to listen to it.  My intention on our first day on the waka was to feel a sign or the presence of my dad. My intention inadvertently escaped my mind throughout the day, but after reflecting on my experience on the Whanganui River, I realized the Awa (and thus my father) was talking to me the whole day. It was a photo I had taken and a piece of creative writing that helped me realize that:

Image by Shaelyn Lau: On the Whanganui River, flipped upside down.

Reflections through a glassy Awa.

Reflections of thy self,

reflections of thy cosmos.

Watered reflections dip into the realm of spirits.

And when your eyes fall shut, 

the sight of your ears is exposed. 

And yet another realm is unlocked.

A day spent reflecting on the reflections,

just to discover that a body of water isn’t even needed to see through the mirror.

The sounds,

the scapes,

they are my greatest reflection.

The vastness, the diversity, the flux of streams, the power, the sharpness, the gentleness, the colorfulness, the strength, the beauty, the inevitable awe and love…

I see it all within myself.

The exhilarating feeling of life…

I see it within those who have gone…

I see it within the legacy that was left for me.

The natural magic put my greatest lesson into the clearest perception—

Nature and me? We are one in the same.

Nature and you? You are one in the same.

You and me? We are one in the same.

Reflections. Those seen without a mirror are the truest ones I’ve yet to see. 

It is through the pure and profound spirit of the Awa that I have come to realize that the Whanganui River has always possessed the personhood and equity that has been granted to it through the legal system. Peoples of the Whanganui Iwi have utilized their truthful knowing of the land, its knowledge, and its systems to govern their own society as an equal and responsible ally to the River. Their philosophy of the world in which we live in has been derived from several lifetimes of interacting with the Awa in similar but even more rooted ways than what we had the privilege to experience.