Stories

The fog that blankets our rohe (region) is as familiar as the awa. The river goes deep into the earth, it reaches into the land through tributaries, and the fog pulls it up into the air. There is nowhere in these lands that the river does not go.

You would perhaps expect us to describe our awa as the most beautiful place in the world, but we're not the only ones who think so. The section of the Waikato river that we call home has starred in Hollywood films and television shows, from The Hobbit to Yogi Bear.

Our people are river people, and we have lived with this mighty river for generations. The only way to understand how central the awa has always been is to travel with it – to understand it as a road, as a home, as a hunting ground, as a kitchen, as a power source.

Intense geothermal power pulses below the surface of the earth across this whole region, rising as steam from the banks of the awa and colouring the pools of Waiotapu like jewels. Like the awa itself, this geothermal activity cares for the wellbeing of our iwi in many ways.

Manu (birds) are tohu (signs, markers) on the awa. Their migrations and movements mirror the seasonal movements of our people around this rohe (region).

The Aratiatia Dam is one of eight dams imbedded along the Waikato river. When the dam is opened, 80,000 litres of water roar through the Aratiatia rapids. While it is an awesome feat of engineering, the construction of the Aratiatia Dam changed the river and, by extension, our people.