Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu has maintained its mana, whakapapa connections and historical associations with all of these rohe. The iwi has tikanga and kawa, which involve tapu and noa, in relation to these rohe, and continues to maintain responsibilities and obligations to these areas and their cultural, spiritual, historic and traditional values. STATEMENT OF VALUES: TE TAI TAPU Te Tai Tapu is of immense importance to Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu. This has been the position since the iwi arrived in the area in 1828-1832. Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu whānau have occupied and cultivated areas of Te Tai Tapu and harvested its natural resources since those earliest days. Te Tai Tapu was specifically excluded from the Crown’s Te Waipounamu sale in 1855. The rights of Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu to two areas (Paturau and Te Wahi Ngaki) were acknowledged at a hui facilitated by James Mackay Jr in 1863 and recorded in a Deed of Agreement. Within the general area from Onetāhua to Kahurangi Point, a number of places are of particular historical and cultural significance to Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu. Two major sites are Te Reinga and Otuihe. Te Reinga (Pillar Point), which bears the same name as Te Reinga of the far north, serves the same traditional role as does that northern wāhi tapu. Te Reinga is the departing place of the spirits of the dead as they begin their final journey back to Hawaikinui, Hawaikiroa, Hawaikipamamao. The hillside above Lake Otuihe is another wāhi tapu. During the 1980s kōiwi and taonga were found there, being the skeletal remains of an important ancestor “clasping” a fine pounamu mere and clothed in an elegant korowai. The identity of this tūpāpaku has not been determined but the urupā site is revered by all iwi, including Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu, as wāhi tapu. The primary pā and kāinga of Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu were at Paturau where the paramount chief of the iwi, Te Puoho ki Te Rangi installed his first cousin, Te Rahui, to protect and nuture the whenua there. Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu also occupied Te Wahi Ngaki (also known as Kaukauawai and Waikaki), a coastal block located north of the Paturau River. Oth er pā and kāinga sites of significance to Ngāti Tama ki Tau Ihu are Te Rae, Pūponga, Wharariki, Kaihoka, Rakopi, Pā Point, Ngatuihe (Otuihe/Sandhill Creek), Anatori, Turamawiwi, Tini and Anaweka. Some of these places were not ancestral pā and kāinga of Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu but through intermarriages over the intervening years most present-day Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu families also have Ngāti Rārua and Te Atiawa roots and therefore have equal regard for all ancestral occupation sites at Te Tai Tapu. The o uter beaches of Onetāhua and the huge tidal flats inside the sandbank are of prim e importance as mahinga kai for sea fishing. Any easily-accessible foreshore site from Onetāhua south to Kahurangi Point can yield good catches at various seasons. At many of these pl aces broad wave-cut rock p latforms harbour deep pools abounding wi th pāua, crayfish, and mussels and many species of reef fish. The large West Whanganui Inlet and other estuaries have deep main channels where several fish varieties run on the tides and b road mud flats for netting fish on the high tides or shellfish-gathering at low tide. Most of the rivers and streams attract īnanga during the season and tuna are caught everywhere. As well as the marine estuaries, there are several fresh-water lakes throughout the area some of which were important mahinga kai manu. At different seasons several bird species flocked to these mahinga, to feed or breed. The Archway Islands at Wharariki were favoured localities for the harvest of titi and torea. Te Tau Ihu Statutory Acknowledgements Page 99 of 163