taonga, and placed great importance on the tapu nature of these tarns and lakes and their role in signifying, asserting and sustaining Ngāti Apa identity. The four small tarns of Paratītahi and the larger tarn Paraumu were important means of demonstr atingidntity authority and mana within Ngāti Apa communities and e , contributing to social organisation and stability within the iwi. Young ariki were traditionally taken to these tarns in summer months, where they would be ritually cleansed in the waters before being presented to their people. For Ngāti Apa, traditions and stories such as these reinforce tribal identity and solidarity as well as denoting the continuity that exists across generations of Ngāti Apa. These traditions record places and events that have shaped Ngāti Apa as an iwi over many generations. Rotomairewhenua / Blue Lake Ngāti Ap a’s relationship with its whenua and wai is integral to its identity as a people. The alpine tarns and lakes located within the Nelson Lakes National Park symbolise for Ngāti Apa peopl e the intense nature of their relationship to their environment, and the mauri or life force that is contained in all parts of the natural environment and binds the spiritual and p hysical world. The tarns and la kes were discovered and named by Ngāti Apa tupuna. They reflect the importance and purity of water as a taonga that helps link past, present and future generations; in doing so they provide a path to the hereafter. For Ngāti Apa these tarns and lakes are also markers on a series of interwo ven trails discovered and used by Ngāti Apa over many centuries as they travelled from one part of their rohe t o another. Ngāti Apa tupuna w ere steeped in knowledge of whaka papa, traditional trails and taonga, and placed great importance on the tapu nature of these tarns and lakes and their role in signifying, asserting and sustaining Ng āti Apa identity. Rotomairewhenua or ‘the lake of peaceful lands’ was traditionally where hauhanga (bone cleansing) ceremonies were carried by Ngāti Apa for the bones of deceased males. Once washed, the cleansed bones were deposited in the Sabine Valley (Te Kai ki o Maruia). Rotomairewhenua is fed by an underground river from Rotopōhueroa, illustrating for Ngāti Apa the interconnected ness of the natural world. In Ngāti Apa tradition, once the bones had been washed, the spirits were released and they would journey from Rotomairewhenua along the West Coast and Te Tai Tapu (the sacred pathway) to Te One Tahua (Farewell Spit), Te Reinga and ultimately Hawaiki. For Ngāti Apa , traditions and stories such as these reinforce tribal identity and solidarity as well as denoting the continuity that exists across generations of Ngāti Apa. These traditions record places and events that have shaped Ngāti Apa as an iwi over many generations. Rotomaninitua / Lake Angelus Ngāti Ap a’s relationship with its whenua and wai is integral to its identity as a people. The alpine tarns and lakes located within the Nelson Lakes National Park symbolise for Ngāti Apa people the intense nature of their relationship to their environment, and the mauri or life force that is contained in all parts of the natural environment and binds the spiritual and physical world. The tarns and lakes were discovered and named by Ngāti Apa tupuna. They reflect the importance and purity of water as a taonga that helps link past, present and future generations; in doing so they provide a pa th to the hereafter. For Ngāti Apa these tarn s and lakes are also markers on a series of interwoven trails discovered and used by Ngāti Apa over many centuries as they travelled from one part of their rohe to another. Ngāti Apa tu puna were steeped in knowledg e of whakapapa, traditional trails and taonga, and placed great importance on the tapu nature of these tarns and lakes and their role in signifying, asserting and sustaining Ngāti Apa identity. Te Tau Ihu Statutory Acknowledgements Page 16 of 163