E Rere Ana Te Wai O Waikato He Piko He Taniwha, He Piko He Taniwha

The Waikato River is a significant cultural and historical water body for Waikato Māori, who view it as a Tūpuna (ancestor), a taonga (treasure), and the embodiment of the mana (authority) and mauri (life force) of Waikato Māori communities. However, since European settlement in the early 19th century, the River’s mauri has been depleted by various human activities such as: land clearance for agriculture, wetland drainage, and land privatisation. This degradation has resulted in restricted access to the River’s edge, wetlands, and culturally significant sites. This has cut peoples’ connections to the awa (river) and landscape, therefore resulting in a weakened sense of mauri, mana and hauora (well-being) for the River and everything which whakapapa (relate as kin) to it. The site selected for this study sits on a bend of the River. It has many important tribal landmarks on and around it - and had Māori settlement on it prior to settler-government confiscation of the land in the 1870s. Adding to the depleted mauri and hauora of this landscape is that the land is now all held in individualised parcels used for lifestyle blocks and is prone to serious flooding.

Currently there is a lack of research surrounding mauri in landscape architecture, with most literature regarding mauri through a social studies, legislature, and scientific lens. There are restoration projects, and some landscape architecture designs in New Zealand which deal with mauri, but these projects mainly aim at restoring mauri through re-introducing/ creating habitat for native and taonga species, through symbolism and through community engagement. There is little discussion on the socio-experience surrounding mauri.

My proposal seeks to rethink and recreate a settlement on the banks of the Waikato River that will improve mauri and reconnect all people especially members of my Whānau/Iwi, with their whenua and the River. I will do this by reasserting the mana of the River which will include: 1) establishing new places, spaces and homes for people; 2) creating new habitats for flora and fauna; and 3) re-reconnecting people with the River by creating a new eco-settlement with public spaces and wetlands. These features will weave the settlement together figuratively and literally. By integrating Maatauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) with landscape architecture, the research and proposed design aims to improve water quality, enhance ecological biodiversity, reduce flooding and emphasise the cultural and spiritual significance of the River. Importantly, my proposal will enhance the mauri of the River by reclaiming its flood plain, and creating a sense of connection between all living and non-living things located at the site.