Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a- Māui travellers across Te Tau Ihu often called into Delaware Bay or Horoirangi f or wa ter, later travelling onwards around Cape Soucis into Croisille Harbour pas sing by D’Urville and Stephens Islands and Admiralty Bay. The Chetwode and Forsyt h Islands were often used for shelte r, fishing and watering in the Pelorus Sounds before passing Alligator Head and taking the opportunity to catch up with th e Port Gore whānau th en moving into the Queen Charlotte Sound or across to Wellingto n. Climbing on top of Cape Koamaru gave a good indication of theips working a t peak r flow, particularly around the Brothers. Te Ātiawa o Te Waka- a-Māui were very experienced on the water and knew timing was extremely i mportant. The best tides to travel on meant leaving the Cape an hour before low tide at Waikawa, to be level with the Brothers around slack water and to catch the east g oing tidal stream in the eastern Strait. Second best would be leaving an hour before h igh tide at Picton , as it is more important to have slack water around the Brothers t han the east going stream, which is neither reliable nor stro ng. Cape Koamaru was a r ugged stretch to Ra ukawa Rock and often Arapaoa Island sheltered the mariner travelling from Cook Strait. Te Ātiawa o Te Wak a-a-Māui had several special camp sites along this stretch of water waiting for the win ds and waters to slacken. The White Rocks and Fishermans Rocks are important maritime navigation points for our whānau, so too are Sentinel Rock, McManaway Rock, Witts Rock and the Jag Rocks. The knowledge of the sea was important for survival, for example taking the south side of the rock could mean landing at Waikanae or going southwards. Ngā Whatu-kai-ponu, the Eyes that Stand as Witness to the Deeds of Kupe (the Brothers Islands), are the eyes of the octopus (wheke), Muturangi, cast into the sea by Kupe after he had killed the creature. The tapu associated with these Islands required travellers to recite karakia when crossing Te Moana o Raukawakawa and only the descendants of Kupe, persons of great mana or tohunga could gaze upon them. Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a- Māui through conquest has inherited various places Kupe travell ed within Te Tau Ihu, however to day as kaitiaki of these places Te Ātiawa o Te Wak a-a-Māui shares the travels of Kupe with all of Aotearoa as they belong to all. As a coastal tangata whenua kaitiaki Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a- Māui have an obligation to ensure that th e coastal an d marine areas are sustained. Coa stal areas have always had considerable significance for Te Ātiawa o Te Waka- a-Māui in terms of te kauae runga (things spiritual) and te kauae raro (things earth ly). Th e kaimoana, as with other resources, is important not only in economic v alue, but also in cu ltural and spiritual terms. The right to o ccupy an area and utili se its resourc es is inseparable from individual and collective mana. For Te Ātiawa o Te Waka -a-Māui, the coastal and maritime area is a symbol of kaitiakitanga, mātaitai and mahinga mātaitai as tangata whenua based upon tikanga and mātauranga Māori. Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui place very high spiritual and cultural values upon the coastline and these values. Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a- Māui tūpuna attained an advanced understanding of the lifecycles of the fish that they caught for food. They knew that with the first signs of winter approaching fish would start their journeys from inland waterways down to the coastal river mouths. In the autumn, cooler air temperatures gave the adults a signal to begin moving downstream, whereas in spring the melting snows told juveniles to move upstream. Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a- Māui itinerant lifestyle was based on harvests at certain times of the year, for fishing andhunting seasons, for p lanting crops, for whānau or political reasons, because of c onflict or scar ce resources. However, customary practice of whakaarahi to main tain ahi kaa roa, and to confirm tribal dominance of territories, was expressed throu g h this travelling lifestyle. From the lakes, the rivers, the coastline, Tasman Sea, the Cook Strait and the Pacific Ocean, all this preserving what our tūpuna fought for and attained, it is both a right and responsibility associated with coastline and maritime of Te Waka-a-Maui. Te Tau Ihu Statutory Acknowledgements Page 145 of 163