River incorporates 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 awa. We have a responsibility and obligation to this place and its cultural, spiritual, historic and/or traditional values. TE HOIERE (PELORUS) RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES Te Hoiere is an iconic wāhi tapu to Ngāti Kuia which incorporates our cultural values of take kitea and take tupuna. It is an iconic river which our tupuna explored, named and used. It incorporates our cultural values of take ahi ka. It is a core part of our cultural identity. We are i dentified as tangata whenua here. Te He oi re was in clu ded in the Te Hoiere and Ko Rai areas identified by Ngāti Kuia tupuna in 1883 as a place of their lands. Whakapapa Tatai hikohiko Ngāti Kuia korero tuku iho (tradition) states that Kaikaiawaro Matuahautere named this awa. He was following the korero of his tupuna Kupe and trying to find a way Matuahautere through to Whakatu (Nelson). Guided by his kaitiaki Matuakuha and tupuna Kaikaiawaro he had gone up the Pelorus Sound and River in his waka Te Hoiere. Tukauae Kuia The river was navigable from the sea. When Matuahautere explored the awa with Kaikai-a-waro he left his waka at a place we call Te Herenga (the tying up). It has numerous taunga waka along it. There are several rua which are accredited with being made by Kaikai-a-waro as he struggled to navigate the awa; Te Okioki-a-Kaikaiawaro at the head of the awa and Otipua near Ruapaka. Ngāti Kuia tupuna had considerable knowledge of places for gathering kai and other taonga, ways in which to use the resources of the awa and whenua and tikanga for the proper an these values remain important to d sustainable utilisation of resources. All Ngāti Kuia today. Its whole extent was a vital source of industrial raw materials, mahinga kai - including abundant eels - and the mouth of the river was a rich source of fish and shellfish. Adjacent woodlands and wetlands were rich in bird and marine life. The river environs were also a noted source of high quality flax, which assisted Ngāti Kuia in establishing their reputation as skilful flax weavers. The river also formed an important junction of a number of hinterland trails, linking the people living at Te Hoiere with other settlements elsewhere in Te Tau Ihu and forming routes for the transport of pakohe from interior districts. Inland kainga were occupied seasonally, especially during the kereru season. The awa was and is still used for tohi and other tikanga. There are a number of important p ā, kainga, wāhi tapu, urupā, mahinga kai and cultivation areas associated with the river. Some of these include Tutaemakara, a p ā site at the head of the awa at a place we called Te Matau . Te Honomaru was the rangatira there. It had its own cultiva tion area nearby. Parapara was a kainga and cultivation area with an urupā nearby. It w as also an import ant source of highly prized red ochre (kokowai). Clay co ntaining the necessary silica tes was dried and ground, then mixed with fish or whal e oil or a su bstance obtained from p iokoeedstocreate t s ochre of high quality. It was common for Ngāti Kuia to apply ochre until at least the 1840s. It wa s also use d to decorate and protect waka and car vin gs pa . Ruaakwas a very early and significant Ngāti Kuia settlement, located on an important trail and waka route from Mo tuweka (Havelock) on the Pelorous Rver. The area was a good source of i flax and contained urupā. During the latter part of the nineteenth century Ruapaka remained a major Ngāti Kuia settlement. In the 1880s it boasted a wharenui called Te Te Tau Ihu Statutory Acknowledgements Page 37 of 163