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The iwi Ngāi Tahu of the South Island is taking the Crown to court, seeking “rangatiratanga” over all fresh water in their area.
The case would seek to establish a “shared authority” with the Crown over policy and practice.
Te Rūnanga or Ngā Tahu president Lisa Tumahai said the case against the Crown, filed in Christchurch High Court on Monday, came after generations of being excluded from guardianship of the waterways.
“For too long, governments have talked about tackling these problems, but they have made only partial progress,” Tumahai said. “That is not enough. Now is the time to act.”
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The case would seek to fix the degradation of rivers and lakes caused by what the iwi says is environmental mismanagement.
DAVID WALKER / STUFF / Things
Canterbury’s Waihora-Lake Ellesmere from above in 2017. The dark sediment in the foreground comes from the agricultural stream.
Rangatiratanga has a wide variety of meanings, ranging from leadership to authority to autonomy.
One of the iwi leaders who took part in the action was Sir Tipene O’Regan, who said that Ngāi Tahu was not interested in water as “conventional property”.
“We are just saying that our situation in Te Waipounamu is materially different from other parts,” O’Regan said.
Iain McGregor / Stuff
Ngāi Tahu’s director, Lisa Tumahai, says the tribe had engaged with the Crown without success on the fresh water issue. Archive.
He said they simply wanted the rangatiratanga guaranteed by law in the Crown’s formal apology in its Deed of Liquidation.
“We want participation and we want to get involved.”
It would mean “some kind of authority shared with the Crown both in policy and in practice.”
“But first we must obtain the recognition that the Crown has committed itself by law to recognize our rights and interests.
Robyn Edie / Stuff
Sir Tipene O’Regan says the legal action would help establish “shared authority” with the Crown. Archive.
Tumahai said the iwi tried to interact with the Crown on water issues “without success.”
“We agree with the Waitangi Tribunal in their freshwater investigation stage 2 report last year that progress in recognizing our freshwater rights, responsibilities and obligations in our takiwā now requires a case. evidence in court “.
Upoko, customary leader, Dr. Te Maire Tau said the results of the current management could be seen in the condition of rivers, lakes and streams in Canterbury, Otago and Southland.
In the case, Ngāi Tahu would seek to force the Crown to solve the problems in association with the iwi.
Tau said the claim was made because the Canterbury waterways had “practically been destroyed”.
“They really are a shame. But it’s not just about quality and pollution, it’s about water extraction. “
He said that the Ngāi Tahu people lived in the rivers, and simple things like collecting watercress “you just don’t do it now” because of the pollution.
Stacy Squires / Stuff
Dr. Te Maire Tau says the current law is “first come first serve”.
Whole generations of southern islanders simply had not swam in the Canterbury rivers along its coast, he said.
He said that the Ngāi Tahu Settlement Law was very clear, that the tribe had rangatiratanga.
Ngāi Tahu was a tribe that lived on the land, he said. “We know the braided rivers, we know the water courses, the waterfalls. We are not a tribe that would go to the supermarket to eat … what defines us are the foods of the landscape ”.
Rangatiratanga meant that Ngāi Tahu would have “rights, responsibilities and obligations” related to the waterways in his area. This included doing everything possible to halt environmental and waterway degradation.
“It comes from a perspective of water as a resource to be extracted, often far beyond the needs of the users. It does not put science, nor the health of the waterways on which our own health depends ”.
The case was presented by 15 Ngāi Tahu leaders from all over the Ngāi Tahu takiwā, and Te Rūnanga or Ngāi Tahu represented by Tumahai.
He said the iwi’s view was that the case was a matter of public good.
The case would cover most of the South Island, except for an area in the north where the eight Te Tau Ihu iwi are the mana whenua. Things You understand that the Crown Law Office has received the statement of claim.
