We are the tangata whenua here and Te Taero-a-Kereopa was included in the Te Hoiere area identified by Ngāti Kuia tupuna in 1883 as a place of their land s. Te Taero-a-Kereopa was an important source for hammer stones for the pakohe industry which were used in quarries throughout the area. Ngāti Kuia tupuna had considerable knowledge of places for gathering kai and other taonga, ways in which to use the resources of the whenua and moana and tikanga for the proper and sustainable utilisation of resources. All these values remain important to Ngāti Kuia today. Ngāti Kui a’s relationship with its whenua and wai is integral to its identity as a people. Te Taero-a- Kereopa symbolises for Ngāti Kuia 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 worlds. Te Taero-a- Kereopa incorp orates the cultural values of N gāti Kuia mauri. Ngāti Kuia has mana, whakapapa associations and history here. We have tikanga and kawa which involve tapu and noa at this place. We have a responsibility and obligation to this place and its cultural, spiritual, historic and/or traditional values. TARAKAIPA ISLAND This motutapu incorporates our cultural values of take kitea and take tupuna. It is a place which our tupuna discovered, named and used. Tarakaipa is also known as Oaie to Ngāti Kuia. Both are Ngāti Kuia tupun a. Matuahautere, in his waka "Te Hoiere" followed his tupuna Kupe's korero and came to this area, guided by his kaitiaki Kaikaiawaro. He explored the Pelorus Sound which he named after his waka Te Hoiere. He tried to find a way through to Whakatu (Nelson) and went up this reach. He found a taunga ika around Tarakaipa, a nearby island he called Awaiti, the short river and Tawhitinui (named later after a Ngāti Kuia tupun a). Whakapapa Tatai hikohiko Kuia had a pā nearby with a house called Nga Tai Kaikaiawaro Whakau (the holding of the tides). Matuahautere She lived there with Rongotamea and their Matuakuh a children. Tukaua e Tarak aipa Kuia marries Rongo tamea When Tarakaipa died he was buried in the rua there Kai- te-wa re and the island took on his personification. This place incorporates our cultural value of take ahi ka and is a core part of our cultural identity. We are identified as tangata whenua here. It is from Nga Tai Whakau that Kuia’s daughter Kai-te-Ware was taken to be married to a rangatira from another iwi. This is remembered in a line from waiata composed later: Mahue Tawhiti nui, mo te hika i a Ware(Kai-Te-Ware) (Abandoned was Tawhitinui, for the lover of Ware (Kai-Te- War e)). After this, Kuia moved from Nga Tai Whakau to Wakaretu. It is customary to pay your respects as you pass Tarakaipa and the nearby islands to acknowledge our tupuna. The island provided access to important mahinga mataitai, as well as access to important moki and elephant fish breeding grounds. Oaie means the place of Aie. This Ngāti Kuia tupuna used the island which was associated with him. Oaie was included in the Hautai and Te Hoiere areas identified by Ngāti Kuia tupuna in 1883 as a place of their land s. Ngāti Kuia’ s relationship with its whenua and wai is integral to its identity as a people. Taraka ipa symbolises for Ngāti Kuia 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 worlds. Tarakaipa incorporates the cultural values of N gāti Kuia mauri. Ngāti Ku ia has mana, whakapapa associations and history here. We have tikanga and kawa which involve tapu and noa at this place. We have a responsibility and obligation to this place and its cultural, spiritual, historic and traditional values. Te Tau Ihu Statutory Acknowledgements Page 24 of 163