Whenua

Jul 1, 2018

Awarua (the Haast River) flows from Kā Tiritiri-o-te-moana (the Southern Alps) into Te Tai-o-Rehua (the Tasman Sea) north of Ōkahu (Jackson Bay). Awarua was part of the traditional travel route over Tioripātea (Haast Pass) and along the Makarore (Makarora River) that connected Te Tai Poutini (the West Coast) with lakes Wānaka and Hāwea. During the 1879 Smith-Nairn Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Ngāi Tahu land claims, Ngāi Tahu kaumātua described Awarua as a kāinga mahinga kai where weka, kākāpō, kāuru (cabbage tree root), aruhe (bracken fernroot), and tuna were gathered.
Photograph: Tony Bridge.

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