3.6 NGĀTI TAMA KI TE TAU IHU The statements of association of Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu are set out below. These are statements o f the partic ular cultural, spiritual, historical, and traditional association of Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu with identified areas. PARAPARA PEAK Parapara Peak reigns above the western side of Mōhua. It is a wāhi tapu: a sacred maunga of special significance to Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu whānau through their ancestral and spiritual links to the natural world. The mauri of Parapara Peak maunga embodies the life force that binds the spiritual world with the physical world. Originally Huriawa, the taniwha of Waikoropupū Springs, was buried on Parapara until she was called forth to guard the waterways and caves of Waikoropupū Springs. Parapara Peak w as important in the lives of Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu tūpuna and remains central to the lives of whānau in the present. Papakāinga at Pariwhakaoho, Parapara Inlet, O nekaka and Tukurua fall beneath the gaze of the maunga, where generations of whānau have live d, cultiva ted land, collected resources and harvested food. Since their occupation of the land below, Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu whānau have looked up to the peak for indications of changing weather and seasonal patterns. Parapara was also a geographical maker, linking the people tothe land. Its significance isrecognised r in the pepehā of Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu iwi - “Ko Parapara te maunga …” WESTHAVEN (TE TAI TAPU) MARINE RESERVE AND WESTHAVEN (WHANGANUI INLET) WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT RESERV E The area covered by the Westhaven Marine Reserve and Westhaven Wildlife Reserve is of immense historical, traditional and cultural significance to Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu. The length of occupation, the abundance of natural resources and the ancient coastal trail to Te Tai Poutini all contribute to its significance. The occupation sites, which can still be found around Whanganui Inlet today, are one indication of the decades of Māori history entwined with the estuary and associated waterways and lowland forests. Rakopi was a traditional campsite for Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu tūpuna. Middens, ovens and rock and cave shelters along the Te Tai Tapu coast mark both longer-term habitation sites and the campsites of tūpuna who came to gather resources from Whanga nui Inlet for their journey south to Te Tai Poutini. In 1846, Heaphy recorded the well-worn path from Pakawau Pā in Mōhua to the northern end of Whanganui Inlet. A Māori offered to take the party across the Inlet to its southern end in a waka. Once there, a well used path was again followed to take Heaphy through the hills and along limestone cliffs out to the coast at Hapu Stream. Since the early 1800s, Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu living in Mōhua and Motueka have made seasonal j ourneys to Whanganui Inlet / Te Tai Tapu to collect mahinga kai, rongoā and other natural materials. In earlier times whole Māori communities would relocate their villages to harvest resources from this huge and abundant food basket. Everyone had different tasks. Some would go fishing, while others would collect shellfish, snare birds or collect plant materials from around the estuary and associated lowland forests. Whānau and extended whānau gatherings occurred frequently, depending on seasonal resources available for harvest from land and sea. Each season brought different resources to fruition for harvest. These harvests were an opportunity to renew social and familial ties, but many people were also needed to carry out the jobs associated with the harvest. Te Tau Ihu Statutory Acknowledgements Page 87 of 163