Wai ora
Water is the basis for all life. It is taonga, something to be cherished and looked after. For Māori, wai holds mauri – a spiritual life force. To keep the mauri intact, we need to look after the water. Māori have classifications for wai that describe its qualities, properties and uses.
The following resources provide information about wai, its mauri and the different ways Māori use and classify wai. The videos highlight the special connections between tangata whenua and their local awa.
Te mana o te awa – article
Whakatauki – article
Ngā karangatanga matua mō te wai māori me ngā ika wai māori – article
Wai words – activity
Awa and iwi – video
Hekeiterangi Broadhurst – video
Hoturoa Kerr – video
Karaitiana Ripaki-Tamatea – video
Linda Te Aho – video
Mamae Takerei – video
Miriama (Tilly) Turner – video
Rahui Papa – video
Rangitiaho Mahuta – video
Turanga Barclay-Kerr – video
Wiremu Puke – video
Transcript
REVEREND HAKI WIRIHANA
Water for my iwi – people – is very, very important, because water is life in its all entirety. We are born from water and nd we all have a responsibility to look after our water, in our rivers, in the artesian bores that we bore for water in, from Papatūānuku and also what we get from the heavens. Water, yes, it’s a taonga. And also we need water for our plant life, for our māras [gardens] so that our food can grow. Healthy water is our sustenance.
A lot of our people take people down when they’re sick. They take them down and they baptise them, and they use the water as a spiritual healing for the sick body. The other part of the spirituality is looking after the water itself.
To keep the mauri in the water, we must keep it clean. Also letting our farmers and all those around the rivers and that, and using the water to understand about how they must keep the water clean and not let the effluent and everything go into the rivers. Hoki mai te mauri i te awa. Hoki mai te mauri i te awa. Haere mai te wairua o te orangatanga e tāngata.
Acknowledgements
Reverend Haki Wirihana Ngāti Hauā Iwi Trust Ngāti Hauā Mahi Trust AS Wilcox and Sons Limited Sandra and Rod McKinnon Footage of Te Wairere Falls, Bortocal. Released under Creative Commons licence CC BY 3.0 Drone footage of Karapiro Dam, Bruce Casey Footage of karakia near tī kōuka (cabbage) tree, Ākina Foundation Drone footage of McKinnon’s farm and shots of effluent spreader, filmed by AF Productions and Paul Sutherland Photography. Copyright Yardmaster Footage of Ngatamariki Power Station, Chris Sisarich
Acknowledgement
This video has been developed in partnership with the Waikato Regional Council as part of the Rivers and Us resource.
