ASSETS

    Whai Rawa

    To Mātou Whenua

    Reclaiming and retaining ownership of land and other resources is important for our iwi historically and culturally as well as financially. Our focus has been on reclaiming Ngāti Kearoa Ngāti Tuara land and resources as they will form the foundation of our economic revival.

    • Today Ngāti Kearoa Ngāti Tuara owns about 1,600 hectares:
    • Te Paiaka Lands Trust farms at Tihi-o-Tonga and Horohoro
    • A number of farms owned by whanau trusts at Horohoro
    • 586 hectares in Horohoro Bush and Mountain Reserve
    • Karamu Takina Water Reserve at Tihi-o-Tonga; and
    • 17 other significant sites, designated as Māori reservations.

    Through the Treaty settlements process entered into as part of Te Pumautanga o te Arawa (TPT) and the Central North Island Iwi Collective (CNI), there is an opportunity for Ngāti Kearoa Ngāti Tuara to have some of our customary lands returned.

    Ngāti Kearoa Ngāti Tuara will remain involved in farming and forestry while embracing other business opportunities as they arise. Monies received from our Treaty settlement will be invested in growing these opportunities.

    Karamū Tākina Spring​

    E rere ana te hau mai i Horohoro ki Tihi o Tonga
    Ko Horoirangi te mauri, nōna te makurutanga o te whenua
    Ko Te Whetengu te pā ki runga
    Ko Te Utuhina te awa ki raro
    Ko Karamu Tākina te puna manawa whenua
    Ko Ngāti Kearoa, Ngāti Tuara te hapū
    Ko Te Arawa te iwi

    The Karamū Takina Spring at Tihiotonga is of great cultural and spiritual value to Ngāti Kearoa Ngāti Tuara.

    Originally, Ngāti Kearoa Ngāti Tuara owned and occupied lands from Horohoro to the edges of Lake Rotorua. An important source of water and a wahi tapu was the area of the springs (Te Mawae Spring and Karamū-Tākina Spring) on the Tihiotonga A block, which is now part of Te Paiaka Lands Trust farm.

    In 1954 the Rotorua Borough Council asked the iwi if the Spring could be used to provide water for the growing town. Our tupuna agreed but asked that the land surrounding the Spring be leased not sold. Despite their request, 3 acres was ‘purchased’ for the sum of 500 pounds. In the following years more land was taken under the Public Works Act till the Council ‘owned’ nearly 6 hectares.

    Now, nearly 70 years later, the land has been returned to the iwi and Ngāti Kearoa Ngāti Tuara are in the process of establishing a co-management arrangement for the Karamū Tākina Spring which provides about 90% of Rotorua city’s water.

    Robyn Bargh says: “We’re willing to support the council but we must retain our mana whenua over our land and resources for future generations.”

    Te Paiaka
    Lands Trust

    Te Paiaka Lands Trust is the Ngāti Kearoa Ngāti Tuara farm trust. The Trust’s vision is to be ‘a self-sufficient and diversified business based around an economic and sustainable farming operation that continues to provide opportunities for the benefit of the hapū’.

    Te Paiaka Lands Trust manages 712 hectares of land at Tihi-o-Tonga and Horohoro. Of the 712 hectares, 350 hectares is farmed as a drystock operation with dairy grazing. An additional 131 hectares of land on several blocks is leased for drystock farming. The total number of stock units wintered is around 6,700, comprising 15% sheep, 30% own cattle and 55% dairy grazers.