Te Urewera/Te Kawa
Te Marae
A marae unlike any other. Where relationships are formed, responsibilities are understood, and intentions are made clear.
Try “hunting permit”, “Great Walk huts”, “track closures”
Te Urewera/Te Kawa
A marae unlike any other. Where relationships are formed, responsibilities are understood, and intentions are made clear.
Te Urewera is described in Te Kawa as a marae unlike any other. It is a place where relationships are formed, responsibilities are understood, and intentions are made clear.
Te Marae introduces the foundations that guide Te Urewera: the Te Urewera Act, Te Kawa o Te Urewera, and the role of Te Urewera Board. Together, they shape how Te Urewera is cared for, protected and experienced.
“Nature is our mother; respect for one’s parent is the highest duty of life, without her we have no purpose together”
Te Urewera Act 2014 replaced national park status and recognised Te Urewera as a legal entity with its own identity. Te Urewera is no longer a national park. Instead, it is recognised in law as being distinct in and of itself. Te Urewera Board acts as its voice and oversees governance and management in accordance with the Act.
The purpose of the Act is to:
The journey to recognising Te Urewera as a legal person was the result of more than a century of legislative change, Crown and Tūhoe advocacy, stakeholder and settlement negotiations. Rather than transferring ownership from the Crown to Tūhoe, the settlement process created a new legal paradigm in which Te Urewera would exist as a legal entity in its own right. This culminated in the enactment of the Te Urewera Act 2014, which vested Te Urewera in itself and established the governance framework that exists today.
Established the constitutional relationship between Māori and the Crown and provided the basis for future claims regarding Crown actions in Te Urewera.
Recognised a unique form of Tūhoe self-government and acknowledged the distinct relationship between Tūhoe and Te Urewera.
Te Urewera became New Zealand's first National Park and was managed as Crown land under national park legislation.
Established the Waitangi Tribunal and created a mechanism for investigating historical Crown breaches of the Treaty.
Historical grievances relating to Crown actions in Te Urewera were examined and documented, helping to inform settlement negotiations.
Negotiations began to resolve longstanding grievances and determine the future governance of Te Urewera.
The settlement proposed that Te Urewera would cease being a National Park and instead become a legal entity in its own right.
Gave legislative effect to key components of the Tūhoe settlement.
Te Urewera was declared a legal entity with “all the rights, powers, duties, and liabilities of a legal person.”
Te Urewera ceased to be a National Park and Crown ownership ended. The land became vested in Te Urewera itself.
The Board was created to act on behalf of, and in the name of, Te Urewera and to provide governance for Te Urewera.
Governance and management increasingly focused on giving expression to Te Urewera's own identity, wellbeing, and voice.
Te Kawa o Te Urewera is the management plan for Te Urewera.
Kawa is not a set of rules. Kawa is the correct way of doing things, set by precedent, held in tradition, and lived by people. It is not imposed from outside and it cannot be enforced by anyone else. We carry it, or it is lost.
Te Urewera holds her own legal identity. She is not owned. She is not Crown land and is not Tūhoe property. Te Kawa o Te Urewera is how that identity is honoured in practice: the principles, responsibilities and relationships that guide every decision made here.
“Te Kawa is about the management of people for the benefit of the land. It is not about land management.”Tāmati Kruger
Currently, a typical conservation plan manages land and permits people. Te Kawa o Te Urewera reverses it. The land is not the subject of management. We are. Te Urewera does not need managing. It needs us to conduct ourselves properly within.
Te Kawa o Te Urewera carries the responsibilities named in Te Manawa o te Ika: Papatūānuku, mauri, tapu, āhua, tātai, whānau and tanata whenua. Those responsibilities are the measure against which decisions are made, and the reason some decisions are not available at all.
At its heart Te Kawa o Te Urewera holds the enduring relationship between Tūhoe and Te Urewera. Tūhoe did not choose that relationship and cannot resign from it. It is inherited, and it is permanent.
Te Kawa also opens a pathway for manuhiri. Manuhiri are welcome. Being a guest is a standing with obligations, not a transaction: a visit is not a purchase, and access is not entitlement. Nor is it a secondary right, rather a recognition of the obligation on the continuity of Tūhoe to these lands. Where responsible conduct is deserved, we are equals.
Caring for Te Urewera begins with understanding our place within it.
Te Urewera Board acts on behalf of and in the name of Te Urewera. Its role is to uphold the intentions of Te Urewera Act and Te Kawa, ensuring decisions are guided by the wellbeing of Te Urewera and its living system.
The Board consists of six Tūhoe-appointed members and three Crown-appointed members who together serve as the voice of Te Urewera.
Together, Te Urewera Act, Te Kawa o Te Urewera, and Te Urewera Board provide the foundations that guides how Te Urewera is cared for today and protected for future generations.