Indigenous rights and ontological plurality in the institutional arrangements for the Waikato and Waipā Rivers in Aotearoa

Figures & data

Figure 1. Map showing the location of the Waikato and Waipā Rivers.

Figure 2. Hierarchy of statutory water plans for the Waikato River.

Table 1. Co-governance framework for the Waikato and Waipā Rivers.

Waikato River Authority (WRA)	Established in 2010, the WRA oversees the Te Ture Whaimana o Te Awa o Waikato / Vision and Strategy for the Waikato River (V&S).
Te Ture Whaimana o Te Awa o Waikato– Vision and Strategy (V&S)	The V&S is the primary direction-setting document for the Waikato River and activities within its catchment affecting the River. The V&S in its entirety is deemed to be part of the Waikato Regional Policy Statement.
Waikato River Clean-Up Trust (WRCuT)	The WRCuT is a charitable trust that provides access to funding for projects and initiatives that contribute to the restoration and protection of the Waikato and Waipā Rivers. The WRA is the sole trustee of the WRCuT.
Integrated river management plans	Each of the Acts enable the creation of integrated management plans with the purpose of integrating across different institutions with authority to manage the Rivers, including River Iwi. No plans have yet been developed.

Figure 3. Smaller-scale and non-statutory plans.

Table 2. Summary of co-management arrangements for the Waikato and Waipā River.

Co-management mechanism	Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Act 2010	Ngati Tuwharetoa, Raukawa, and Te Arawa River Iwi Waikato River Act 2010	Nga Wai o Maniapoto (Waipā River) Act 2012
Regulations	The Act provides opportunities to make regulations consistent with the overarching purpose of this Act for the management of species, habitats, and natural resources (sec. 93).	The Act provides opportunities to make regulations consistent with the overarching purpose of this Act for the management of species, habitats, and natural resources (secs. 58–9).	The Act provides opportunities to make regulations consistent with the overarching purpose of the Act for the management of species and habitats of the Upper Waipā River (sec. 32).
Iwi Environmental Management Plans	Tai Tumu, Tai Pari, Tai Ao – Waikato-Tainui Environmental Plan (2013). Key strategic objectives include tribal identity and integrity, including ‘to grow our tribal estate and manage our natural resources’.	Ngāti Tūwharetoa Environmental Iwi Management Plan (2003) articulates Ngāti Tūwharetoa values, concerns and aspirations in relation to the environment, including the Waikato River. Te Rautaki Taiao a Raukawa–Raukawa Environmental Management Plan (2014). The purpose of the plan is two-fold: 1) to provide a statement of Raukawa issues, aspirations, and priorities in relation to the environment; and 2) to be a living and practical document that assists Raukawa to proactively and effectively engage in and shape current and future policy, planning processes and resource management decisions. Whakamarohitia Nga Wai o Waikato: Te Arawa River Iwi Trust – Environmental Plan 2015–2025 (2021). The purpose of the plan is to ‘articulate the strategic direction of Te Arawa River Iwi Trust in supporting its affiliates in their role as kaitiaki of the Waikato River, its tributaries and the wider environment and to assert mana awa, mana whenua and mana whakahaere’. Te Arawa River Iwi Trust (TARIT) was formally established in 2009 to represent the three Te Arawa River Iwi (‘affiliates’) located within the Upper Waikato River catchment in the co-management framework for the Waikato River.	Ko Tā Maniapoto Mahere Taiao – Maniapoto Environmental Management Plan (2016). The plan is a ‘ … high level direction setting document’ that describes ‘issues, objectives, policies and actions to protect, restore and enhance the relationship of Maniapoto with the environment including their economic, social, cultural and spiritual relationships’.
Crown-Iwi accords	The Kiingitanga Accord is the collateral deed between the Crown and Waikato-Tainui dated 22 August 2008. Section 94 of the Act outlines expectations regarding additional accords as set out in the Deed of Settlement.	Section 60 of the Act outlines expectations on the Crown for entering into accords with Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Raukawa and Te Arawa River Iwi.	The Waiwaia Accord is a ‘solemn contract entered into by Maniapoto and the Crown’ signed on 27 September 2010. The Act also has provisions for additional accords (sec. 33).
Joint management agreements	Waikato-Tainui has joint management agreements with Waikato Regional Council, Hamilton City Council, Waikato District Council, and Waipā District Council.	Ngāti Tūwharetoa has a joint management agreement with Waikato Regional Council. Raukawa has joint management agreements with Waikato Regional Council, Waipā District Council, South Waikato District Council, Ōtorohanga District Council, Taupō District Council, and Rotorua Lakes District Council. Te Arawa River Iwi has joint management agreements with South Waikato District Council, Rotorua Lakes District Council, and Taupō District Council	Ngāti Maniapoto entered into one collective joint management agreement with five local authorities: Waikato Regional Council, Waikato District Council, Waipā District Council Ōtorohanga District Council and Waitomo District Council.

Table

Awa	river
Hapū	subtribe
Iwi	tribe
Kaitiaki	guardian
Kaitiakitanga	encompassing reciprocal obligations and rights/authority, and the kinship system within which they exist.
Kawa	place-based law, customs and protocols.
Kawanatanga	the Crown’s right to govern.
Mana	prestige, power, authority
mana tuku iho o Waiwaia	Ancestral authority and prestige handed down from generation to generation in respect of Waiwaia (the essence and wellbeing of the Waipā River).
mana whakahaere	authority and jurisdiction
mana whakahono ā rohe	iwi participation agreement
marae	area for formal discourse in front of a meeting house; or the whole marae complex, including meeting house, dining hall, forecourt.
mātauranga	Māori knowledge
mauri	vital essence or life force
nga wai o Maniapoto	all waters within the Maniapoto rohe
Pou	Pillars, enabling conditions
Rangatiratanga	political authority, sovereignty
Rohe	region, territory
rūnanga	tribal council/iwi authority
tangata whenua	people of the land (Māori people)
taniwha	supernatural creature
taonga	treasures
Te Ao Māori	Māori worldview(s)
Te mana o te awa	the mana of the River
Te Mana o Te Wai	the mana of the water
Te reo Māori	the Māori language
Te Tiriti o Waitangi	Treaty of Waitangi
tikanga	Māori law and custom
tupuna	ancestor
waahi tapu	sacred sites
whakapapa	ancestral lineage, genealogical connections