Liz Mellish
Our freshwater awa have long provided sustenance, shelter and spiritual connection. Flowing off our forest cloaked hills to the coastal waters it was these streams that defined how early Māori read the landscape and established kainga, pā, māra and mahinga kai practice. Streams were named for the role they played in the daily lives of those who lived within their catchments and communities developed a relationship with waterways based on respect, stewardship and a recognition of the need to understand the changing faces of these unique freshwater ecosystems. Liz will share how the awa of Te Whanganui a Tara tell a story of the lost landscapes and relationships that tangata whenua had and still have with these waterways despite the current condition the awa find themselves in.
The hidden waters of Te-Whanganui-a-Tara – understanding our past to rekindle connection and care, for future generations.
As with towns and cities across Aotearoa, Te Whanganui a Tara retains a dendritic network of urban streams that continue to provide a path for water from Ki uta ki tai (from the hilltops to the sea). Depending on where you are across the city these streams may be fresh flowing headwater streams in regenerating forest reserves or forced to flow through darkened pipe networks that remain beneath our city streets. In other places they remain open but with uncontrolled stormwater pulsing in every time it rains. The flow in these streams persist regardless of the human induced conditions and these waterways continues to provide ecological connectivity for a range of indigenous and endemic species. Community connection, awareness and sense of kaitiaki is however challenged by the degraded condition that we now find these stream in. Similarly, the agencies tasked with ‘managing’ the stormwater networks to primarily provide urban drainage and flood resilience have become disconnected from the natural system in which they work. But times are changing and once again these cherished urban waterways are again becoming a focus of urban regeneration and renewal.