Te Matau has a mauri of its own - this life force binds the spiritual world with the physical world. All elements of the natural world have a life force and it is this life force that connects our people with this maunga. Mauri is therefore the basis of the spiritual relationship of Te Ātiawa o Te Wa ka-a-Māui with Te Matau. Traditionally, this area had abundant moss animals or lace corals, which were thought to provide habitat for juvenile finfish such as snapper or terakihi. The nearby beach provided a plentiful number of seals for harvest, and the number of small caves sheltered tūpuna as they cleaned and sewed up sealskins. Blue penguins fed at sea during the day and returned to burrows at night. Bellbirds, fantai ls, and kererū (wood pigeons) were also an important resource for Te Ātiawa o Te W aka-a-Māu i. Te Ātiawa o Te Waka -a-Māui whānau and extended whānau gatherings occurred frequently, depending on seasonal resources available for harvest from land and sea. Each season of the year brought different resources to fruition for harvest. These harvests were an opportunity to renew social and familial ties, but many people were also needed to carry out the jobs associated with the harvest. The traditions associated with the area and its resources have been integral to the expression of kaitiakitanga. Kaitiakitanga fo r Te Ātiawa o Te Wa ka-a-Māui is about preserving what our tūpuna fought for an d attained, it is both a right and responsibility acquired by proving an ability to give effect to trusteeship and management. Kaitiakitanga is intertwined with customary authority and exercising protection of the environment. The mātauranga and wāhi tapu associated with Te Matau are taonga Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui wish to protect for future generations. The relationship Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui has with Te Matau is as important to present day whānau as it was to our tūpun a. Te Ātiawa o Te Waka -a-Māui tūpuna had considerable knowledge of whakapapa, traditional trails and tauranga waka, places for gathering kai and other taonga, ways in which to use the resources of Te Matau and the surrounding districts, the relationship of people with the river and their dependence on it, and tikanga for the proper and sustainab le uti lisation of resources. All of these values remain important to Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a- Māui today. Te Ātiawa o Te Wa ka-a-Māui strongly associate to the Motueka and it is often referred to in whaikōrero by kaumātua and other iwi member s. Te Matau is highly significant to Te Ātiawa o Te Waka -a-Māui as iwi, hapū and whānau. Te Ātiawa o Te Wa ka-a-Māui has mana, whakapapa a ssociations and history, and we have tikanga and kawa which involve tapu and noa in this area. Te Ātiawa o Te Waka -a- Māui mana, take tūpuna and our in tense relationship with Te Matau incorporates our cultural values. Te Ātiawa o Te Wak a-a-Māui exercises customary authority over Te Matau. TE ANAMĀHANGA / PORT GORE Port Gore is the papa tupu of Ngāti Hinetuhi and is the anchor of Te Ātiawa o Te Wak a- a-Māui identity. Port Gore is a bay and natural harbour. It is directly to the west of the entrance to Port Gore (Queen Charlotte Sound) and the western end of Cook Strait. This Statutory Acknowledgement covers the foreshore and shoreline from the coastal tip of Alligator Head to Cape Jackson tip. Port Gore’s many wāhi tapu, pā sites, mahinga kai and whakapapa to the whe nua are of immense cul significance to Te Ātiawa o tural Te Waka-a- Māui. The traditions of Te Ātiawa o Te W aka-a-Māui illustrate the physical, cultural, historic and spiritual associations with Port Gore. Port Gore is encapsulated by Te Ātiawa o Te Wa ka-a-Māui contemporary Māori world - view, which is strongly based on traditional cultural beliefs, knowledge, concepts and values. These traditional concepts and values, derived from mātauranga Māori, are Te Tau Ihu Statutory Acknowledgements Page 119 of 163