Ngāti Kuia tupuna had considerable knowledge of places for gathering kai and other taonga, ways in which to use the resources of the moana and whenua and tikanga for the proper an sustainable utilisation of those resources. All these values remain d important to Ngāti Kuia today. This wāhi tapu 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 environm ent and binds the spiritual an d physical worl Te Mau cororaes p t ds. tain the cultural value of Ngāti 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. MAITAI (MAHITAHI) RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES This wāhi tapu incorporates our cultural value of take tupuna. It is a place which our tupuna explored and used. Ngāti Kuia tradition states that Matua Hautere saw the river when he climbed Maungatapu on his way to find Whakatu. Ngāti Kuia later explored the area to find the trails between Te Hoiere and Whakatu, which used both the Mahitahi and Te Hoiere Rivers. While doing this they also discovered sources of valuable pakohe which they gathered and quarried near these rivers. Mahitahi is an old Ngāti Kuia dialect name for whitebait (inanga) which was once found in abundance in the river. The name refers to this resource and also evokes working together in unity just as the whitebait appear to follow the same path. The Mahitahi River incorporates our cultural value of take ahi ka and is a core part of our cultural identity. W ah e are identified as tangata whenu ereandth is an l dw as included in the Te Hoi ere area identified by Ngāti Kuia tupuna in 1883 as a place of their lands. There are a number of sites near the Mahitahi River that are significant to Ngāti Kuia. Several pakohe quarry and flinting sites are found along and nearby the Mahitahi River, such as the Rush Pools Quarry. These sites were worked by Ngāti Kuia who had a saying “He maunga pakohe, he wai pounamu” (“a mountain of pakohe and a river of Greenstone”). The Mahitahi River was an essential part of the Ngāti Kuia pakohe trading industry. Matangi-a- whio, which means ‘The Whirling Sea Breeze’, was a nearby settlement. This name derives from the old saying "ka whakaurea ko kainga raro i te Matangi-a-whio i te Ran gi" . Matangi-a-whio soon grew into an important p ā and kainga complex, known for culti vation of kumara, fishing and mahinga kai, flax and pakohe manufacture. There are a number of associated urupā. The expanded complex occupied land on and around the site of what is now Auckland Point School. In the late-1830s and early-1840s it was also the resid ence of the tupuna Hamuera Te Kawenga, Te Whiro, Kereopa Karangi and others. Ngāti Kuia were engaged in early trade such as the flax industry at Matangi-a- whio. With the arri val of the New Zeala nd Company settlers after 1840 the site became a market area where Ngāti Kuia sold produce to settlers, some of which was produced at the Waimea gardens. Powhai was a temporary occupation site for trade. It was located at the foot of what is today Russell Street, about 500 metres from Matangi-a-whio. Piki-mai p ā site is located on what is now Cathedral Hill, in the centre of Nelson close to the river. Tupuna who lived there were Hamuera Te Kawenga, Te Whiro and Kereopa Karangi. Te Tau Ihu Statutory Acknowledgements Page 34 of 163