Te Urewera

{{Short description|Area in the North Island of New Zealand}} {{For|the former national park|Te Urewera National Park}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=January 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}} {{Infobox landform | name = Te Urewera | native_name = {{lang|mi|Te Urewera}} | other_name = | type = Highlands  | image = File:Lake Waikaremoana, Urewera, New Zealand, 13th. Dec 2010 - Flickr - PhillipC.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Lake Waikaremoana in Te Urewera  | pushpin_map = | map_width = | map_caption = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_relief = | pushpin_label = | mark = | marker_size = | coordinates = {{coord|-38.45|177.05|format=dms|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | coordinates_ref =  | location = Bay of Plenty Region, Hawke's Bay, Gisborne District | range = Ikawhenua Range, Huiarau Range | part_of = | water_bodies =  | age = | orogeny = | formed_by = | geology =  | etymology = | nickname = | authority =  | operator =  | area =  | area_km2 = | area_mi2 = | area_ref =  | length =  | width =  | depth =  | drop =  | height =   | elevation =  | elevation_m = | elevation_ft = | elevation_ref = | surface_elevation =  | surface_elevation_m = | surface_elevation_ft = | surface_elevation_ref = | highest_point = | highest_elevation = | highest_coords =   | volcanic_arc/belt = | volcanic_arc = | volcanic_belt = | volcanic_field = | last_eruption =  | topo = | designation = | free_label_1 = | free_data_1 = | free_label_2 = | free_data_2 = | free_label_3 = | free_data_3 = | website = | embedded = }}

'''Te Urewera''' is an area of mostly forested, sparsely populated rugged hill country in the North Island of New Zealand, located inland between the Bay of Plenty and Hawke Bay. Te Urewera is the ''rohe'' (historical home) of Tūhoe, a Māori iwi (tribe) known for its stance on Māori sovereignty.<ref name=MKing/>

In 1954, a large area of Te Urewera was designated Te Urewera National Park by the New Zealand Government. In 2014 after a Waitangi Tribunal settlement with Tūhoe, the national park was disestablished and the former area was given environmental personhood. This area is now managed by Te Urewera Board, a body composed of both members who represent Tūhoe and the New Zealand Government.

Outside of the protected area, Te Urewera includes land administered as Whirinaki Te Pua-a-Tāne Conservation Park, Onekawa Te Mawhai Regional Park, customary private land owned by Tūhoe, the settlements of Ruatoki North, Waimana, Tāneatua, and privately owned land.

==Geography== The extent of Te Urewera is not formally defined, but is shown by Te Urewera Board as extending from the shores of the Ōhiwa Harbour of the Bay of Plenty to south of Lake Waikaremoana, and includes the Huiarau Range and Ikawhenua Range.<ref>{{cite report|url=https://www.ngaituhoe.iwi.nz/te-kawa-o-te-urewera |title=Te Kawa o Te Urewera |author=Te Urewera Board |year=2017 |page=64 |access-date=18 August 2024}}</ref> According to ''An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand'' (1966), "The Urewera Country originally included all lands east of the Rangitaiki River and west of a line along the lower Waimana River and the upper reaches of the Waioeka River. Its southern boundary was marked by Maungataniwha Mountain, the Waiau River, and Lake Waikaremoana."<ref name=1966Encyc>{{cite encyclopedia |title= Urewera | url= http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/urewera |encyclopedia= An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand |date=1966 |editor-first=A.H. |editor-last=McLintock}}</ref> Much of it is mountainous country, covered with native forest, and it includes the Huiarau, Ikawhenua, and Maungapōhatu ranges.<ref name=1966Encyc/> There are a few flat mountain valleys, chiefly the Ahikereru valley, where the settlements of Minginui and Te Whāiti are, and the Ruatāhuna valley. In the north, towards Whakatāne and the coast, are lowland areas, where the settlements of Tāneatua, Ruatoki and Waimana are located.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Bay of Plenty places – Urewera lowland settlements |first=Malcolm |last=McKinnon |url= http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/bay-of-plenty-places/page-14 |encyclopedia= Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |date= 23 March 2015}}</ref> Lake Waikaremoana and Lake Waikareiti are in the south-eastern part.

Most of Te Urewera is in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region and northern Hawke's Bay Region, with a small part in the Gisborne District. All the settlements are outside the protected area. The region is isolated, with State Highway 38 being the only major arterial road crossing it, running from Waiotapu near Rotorua via Murupara to Wairoa.

==History== The name ''Te Urewera'' is a Māori phrase meaning "The Burnt Penis"<ref>{{cite book |last1= Binney |first1= Judith |title= Encircled lands : Te Urewera, 1820–1921 |date= 2009 |publisher= Bridget Williams Books |location= Wellington, N.Z. |isbn= 9781877242441 |page= 21 |url= http://encircledlandstreaty.bwb.co.nz/Chapter-1.html |access-date= 22 June 2018 |chapter= 1 |quote= Tūhoe are guardians of the lands they named 'Te Urewera', the Burnt Penis. Its fearsome name depicts the fate of Mura-kareke, a son of Tuhoe-potiki, the eponymous ancestor. One version narrates that Mura-kareke chose this death in protest at his sons' treatment of their youngest brother, his 'favourite' child. A different and grimmer version tells that Mura-kareke burnt the severed penis of his younger brother, Mura-anini, in a cooking fire. This was his revenge for Mura-anini's adultery with Mura-kareke’s wife. Both versions – one stoic, one savagely vengeful – recall family lines in conflict.}}</ref> (compare {{langx |mi| ure | translation = penis}}; {{langx |mi| wera | lit = burnt}}).

Because of its isolation and dense forest, Te Urewera remained largely untouched by British colonists until the early 20th century; in the 1880s it was still in effect under Māori control. Te Kooti, a Māori leader, found refuge from his pursuers among Tūhoe, with whom he formed an alliance. As with the King Country at the time, few Pākehā risked entering Te Urewera.<ref name=MKing>{{cite book | author= King, Michael | title= The Penguin History of New Zealand | year = 2003 | isbn= 0-14-301867-1 | publisher = Penguin Books }}</ref>

Between 1894 and 1912, with the approval of a Crown statute, the Urewera District Native Reserve Act 1896, leaders of Tūhoe were able to establish a traditional sanctuary known as the Urewera District Native Reserve, which had virtual home rule. However, between 1915 and 1926 the Crown mounted what has been called "a predatory purchase campaign", the Urewera Consolidation Scheme, which took some 70 percent of the reserve and relocated the Tūhoe to more than 200 small blocks of land scattered throughout what in 1954 became the Urewera National Park.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Webster, Steven |url=https://thepolynesiansociety.org/jps/index.php/JPS/article/download/412/318 |title=Ōhaua Te Rangi and reconciliation in Te Urewera, 1913–1983 |journal=Journal of the Polynesian Society, at Thepolynesiansociety.org |volume=128 |date=June 2019 |issue=2 |access-date=19 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nzlii.org/nz/legis/hist_act/udnra189660v1896n27469/ |title=Urewera District Native Reserve Act 1896 (60 Victoriae 1896 No 27) |website=nzlii.org |access-date=19 July 2022}}</ref>

In the early 20th century Rua Kēnana Hepetipa formed a religious community at Maungapōhatu.

In 1999, the Waitangi Tribunal published a 520-page working paper which analysed the history of the region and concluded that the Crown had never intended to allow Tūhoe self-government.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Anita Miles |url=https://waitangitribunal.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/WT-Te-Urewera.pdf |title=Te Urewera |website=waitangitribunal.govt.nz |access-date=19 July 2022}}</ref> Between 2003 and 2005, a panel of the Waitangi Tribunal consisting of Judge Pat Savage, Joanne Morris, Tuahine Northover, and Ann Parsonson heard evidence on land claims in Te Urewera and designated an area which it called the Te Urewera inquiry district. Part One of its report, covering the period up to 1872, was published in July 2009 and found that the Crown had treated Tūhoe unfairly, especially with regard to the confiscation of a large area of land in the Eastern Bay of Plenty in 1866.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://waitangitribunal.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/WT-63-Te-Manutukutuku.pdf |title=''Te Manutukutuku'' Issue 63 |date=July 2009 |access-date=19 July 2022}}</ref>

==Status of the protected area== In 1954 much of Te Urewera was designated as the Te Urewera National Park, but that was disestablished in 2014, to be replaced by a new legal entity simply called Te Urewera.<ref name=Ruru2014>{{cite journal |last= Ruru |first=Jacinta |date= October 2014 |title= Tūhoe-Crown settlement – Te Urewera Act 2014 | url= http://maorilawreview.co.nz/2014/10/tuhoe-crown-settlement-te-urewera-act-2014/ |journal= Māori Law Review |pages= 16–21 |access-date= 13 December 2015}}</ref>

A land settlement was signed in June 2013 after being ratified by all Tūhoe members.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/crown-and-ngāi-tuhoe-sign-deed-settlement |title=Crown and Ngāi Tuhoe sign deed of settlement |date=4 June 2013 |work=The Beehive}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url= http://www.3news.co.nz/Govt-and-Tuhoe-sign-170m-settlement/tabid/1607/articleID/291384/Default.aspx | work= 3 News NZ | title= Govt and Tuhoe sign $170m settlement | date= March 22, 2013 | access-date= March 22, 2013 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130602233504/http://www.3news.co.nz/Govt-and-Tuhoe-sign-170m-settlement/tabid/1607/articleID/291384/Default.aspx | archive-date= June 2, 2013 | url-status= dead }}</ref> Under this, Tūhoe received financial, commercial and cultural redress valued at approximately $170 million; a historical account and Crown apology; and the co-governance of Te Urewera,<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://maorilawreview.co.nz/2012/10/crown-offer-to-settle-the-historical-claims-of-ngai-tuhoe/ |title=Crown offer to settle the historical claims of Ngāi Tūhoe |journal= Māori Law Review |pages= |access-date=8 June 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.3news.co.nz/Tuhoes-plans-for-170M-settlement/tabid/1771/articleID/290954/Default.aspx| archive-url=https://archive.today/20130413223202/http://www.3news.co.nz/Tuhoes-plans-for-170M-settlement/tabid/1771/articleID/290954/Default.aspx| url-status=dead| archive-date=April 13, 2013| work=3 News NZ| title=Tuhoe's plans for $170M settlement| date=March 20, 2013}}</ref> put into law by enacting the Tūhoe Claims Settlement Act 2014.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://maorilawreview.co.nz/2014/10/tuhoe-crown-settlement-tuhoe-claims-settlement-act-2014-te-urewera-report-of-the-waitangi-tribunal/ |title=Tūhoe-Crown settlement – Tūhoe Claims Settlement Act 2014; Te Urewera report of the Waitangi Tribunal |date=October 2014 |journal= Māori Law Review |pages= |access-date=8 June 2025}}</ref>

The protected area is now administered by the Te Urewera Board, which comprises joint Tūhoe and Crown membership.<ref name=Ruru2014/> Te Urewera has legal personhood, and owns itself,<ref>Te Urewera Act 2014, ss 11–12.</ref> having in 2014 become the first natural resource in the world to be awarded the same legal rights as a person.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Jacqui |last=Gibson |date=9 June 2020 |title=The Māori tribe protecting New Zealand's sacred rainforest|url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20200608-the-mori-tribe-protecting-new-zealands-sacred-rainforest|access-date=29 September 2021 |publisher=BBC Travel }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=BBC's ''The Travel Show''|url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210928-te-urewera-new-zealands-living-rainforest |title=Te Urewera: New Zealand's 'living' rainforest |publisher=BBC Travel |date=29 September 2021 |access-date=29 September 2021 }}</ref>

The new entity continues to meet the International Union for Conservation of Nature criteria for a Category II National Park.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tūhoe Claims Settlement and Te Urewera bills passed |url= http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1407/S00461/tuhoe-claims-settlement-and-te-urewera-bills-passed.htm |newspaper=Scoop |date=24 July 2014 |access-date=13 December 2015}}</ref>

As of 2022, the members of the Te Urewera Board are Jim Bolger of Te Kūiti, a former prime minister of New Zealand, Maynard Manuka Apiata of Rūātoki, Lance Winitana of Waikaremoana, Marewa Titoko of Waimana, Te Tokawhakāea Tēmara of Rotorua, Tāmati Kruger of Tāneatua, Dave Bamford, a sustainable tourism consultant, John Wood, previously a chief Crown negotiator, and Jo Breese, a former chief executive of World Wildlife Fund New Zealand.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ngaituhoe.iwi.nz/meet-the-te-urewera-board |title=Meet the Board |website=ngaituhoe.iwi.nz |access-date=19 July 2022 |archive-date=19 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719182604/https://www.ngaituhoe.iwi.nz/meet-the-te-urewera-board |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Flora and fauna== The crown fern (''Blechnum discolor'') is a widespread understory plant.<ref> {{cite web | last1= Hogan|first1= C. Michael | title= Crown Fern Blechnum discolor | url= http://www.igoterra.com/artspec_information.asp?thingid=95431 | website= iGoTerra|access-date= 13 October 2014 }} </ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Geography of the Bay of Plenty Region Category:Geography of the Gisborne District Category:Geography of Hawke's Bay Category:Whakatāne District Category:Ōpōtiki District Category:Wairoa District Category:Ngāi Tūhoe Category:Environmental personhood Category:Te Urewera (protected area)