Te Whaiti Nui-a-Toi

The kainga o te Iwi
o Ngati Whare, Whirinaki
, Te Urewera, Aotearoa

Nga Taonga

I hare mai te mana a te iwi o Ngati Whare, mai nga wairua o ratau ma inga pai maunga a Tuwatawata me Moerangi. Te wairua a te awa o Whirinaki, ka pa i nga tipurana o Wharepakau. Te Whaiti Nui-a-Toi i hara mai tenei ingoa nga, nga matua tuku iho. Mai te timatana he te awa o Whirinaki. I taua wa ka tareka e koe ki te peke i te tahi taha ka hoki mai.

Kai te ki matau i hara mai matau mai ia Toi. I te ra wa nga tangata whenua ko nga Marangaranga. Te wa o nga Marangaranga: he iwi manaki tangata, he iwi tipu kai, he iwi mohio nga ranoa, nga mahi nga kai, he iwi kaitiakitanga o nga whenua, ngahere, taonga tuki iho a kuia ma e koro ma. Hineruarangi ko ia te kaitiaki o Ngati Whare iwi. Ko Hineruarangi te tamahine a Toi, a noho ana aia i wahi tapu Te Whakamaru, ka puta mai ia pe nei te manu.

Ka noho te mana nga tikanga, te kawa, me nga taonga korero tuku iho, a kuia ma e koro ma, mo ake tonu atu

Click here to discover the treasure that Te Whaiti Nui-a-Toi holds.

Intellectual Property Declaration:

All Intellectual property and assets associated with Te Whaiti Nui-a-Toi is protected under the provisions of the Treaty of Waitangi (1840) and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples passed by the General Assembly of UN on 13th September 2007. Particularly article 31 which states:

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, as well as the manifestations of their sciences, technology and cultures, including human andgenetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of the properties of fauna and flora, oral traditions, literatures, designs, sports and traditional games and visual and performing arts. They also have the right to maintain control, protect and develop their intellectual property over such cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions.

2. In conjunction with indigenous peoples, States shall take effective measures to recognize and protect the exercise of these rights.

Accordingly, all intellectual property associated with this place will remain for all time at the place Te Whaiti Nui-a-Toi. The Ngati Whare Iwi and the future children who belong to this place are its Kaitiaki [guardians].

Interpretation of text above:

Know that we are Ngati Whare and our lifeforce is from the union of our sacred mountains Tuwatawata and Moerangi. The water of our Whirinaki River carries this to all descendents of Wharepakau where ever in the world they reside. Te Whaiti Nui-a-Toi, the narrow canyon at the top of our valley takes its name from our spiritual ancestor Toi, a great leader explorer and community builder who is famed throughout the Pacific.

Toi visited our ancestors the people of this valley, Marangaranga and shared his knowledge with them. Theirs was a community where people cared for each other and visitors were generously included . They had learnt and shared much about nature including its food and herbal medicines. They were guardians of the land and forests that sustained them and they treasured the knowledge that had been passed down to them by their wise elders. Toi's daughter Hineruarangi remains as the spiritual guardian of Ngati Whare and in this sacred place has protected our values and knowledge through times of hardship.

Ngati Whare are the kaitiaki (guardians) of the Whirinaki Forest - a precious rainforest of international repute.

This URL www.tewhaiti-nui-a-toi.maori.nz Thanks to Ian Macdonald for use of the photo of the Whirinaki Canyon published in To Save a Forest - Whirinaki

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