Te Urewera is an area of mostly forested, sparsely populated rugged hill country in the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, located inland between the

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty () is a large bight (geography), bight along the northern coast of New Zealand's North Island. It stretches from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaway in the east. Called ''Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi'' (the Ocean ...

and

Hawke Bay Hawke Bay (), formerly named ''Hawke's Bay'', is a large bay on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, surrounded by the Hawke's Bay region. It stretches from Māhia Peninsula in the northeast to Cape Kidnappers / Te Kauwae-a-Mā ...

. Te Urewera is the ''

rohe The Māori people of New Zealand use the word ' to describe the territory or boundaries of tribes (, although some divide their into several . Background In 1793, chief Tuki Te Terenui Whare Pirau who had been brought to Norfolk Island drew ...

'' (historical home) of Tūhoe, a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

(tribe) known for its stance on Māori sovereignty. In 1954, a large area of Te Urewera was designated

Te Urewera National Park Te Urewera National Park was a national park near the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, established as such in 1954 and disestablished in 2014, when it was replaced by a new legal entity and protected area named ''Te Urewera''. The pa ...

by the

New Zealand Government The New Zealand Government () is the central government through which political authority is exercised in New Zealand. As in most other parliamentary democracies, the term "Government" refers chiefly to the executive branch, and more specifica ...

. In 2014 after a

Waitangi Tribunal The Waitangi Tribunal (Māori: ''Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi'') is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on c ...

settlement with Tūhoe, the national park was disestablished and the former area was given

environmental personhood Environmental personhood or juridic personhood is a legal concept which designates certain environmental entities the status of a legal person. This assigns to these entities, the rights, protections, privileges, responsibilities and legal liabili ...

. 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 Ruatoki North is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty of New Zealand, just south of the small town of Tāneatua and approximately south of the town of Whakatāne. The Whakatāne River runs northwards through the Ruatoki Valley and has formed broa ...

Waimana Waimana is a rural valley in the Whakatāne District and Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located in the northern Te Urewera. Waimana River, originally known as Tauranga River, runs through the valley, joining the Ohine ...

Tāneatua Tāneatua is a small town in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island, 13 kilometres south of Whakatāne. State Highway 2 passes through the town on its route between Edgecumbe and Ōpōtiki. The small settlements of Ruatoki an ...

, 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

to south of

Lake Waikaremoana Lake Waikaremoana is located in Te Urewera in the North Island of New Zealand, northwest of Wairoa and west-southwest of Gisborne. It covers an area of . From the Māori Waikaremoana translates as 'sea of rippling waters'. The lake lies wi ...

, and includes the

Huiarau Range The Huiarau Range is a range of mountains in Te Urewera in the northeast of New Zealand's North Island. Part of the spine of mountains that run roughly parallel with the island's east coast, it is a southwestern extension of the Raukumara Range, ...

and Ikawhenua Range. According to ''

An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand ''An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand'' is an official encyclopaedia about New Zealand, published in three volumes by the New Zealand Government in 1966. Edited by Alexander Hare McLintock, the parliamentary historian, assisted by two others, it ...

'' (1966), "The Urewera Country originally included all lands east of the

Rangitaiki River The Rangitaiki River is the longest river in the Bay of Plenty region in New Zealand's North Island. It is long, and rises inland to the east of the Kaingaroa Forest in the Taupō District. The Rangitaiki catchment covers an area of . It flo ...

and west of a line along the lower Waimana River and the upper reaches of the

Waioeka River The Waioeka River is in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. Its name was officially changed to Waioweka River in 2024. The river flows northwards for from Te Urewera National Park to reach the sea at Ōpōtiki. It ...

. Its southern boundary was marked by Maungataniwha Mountain, the Waiau River, and

." Much of it is mountainous country, covered with native forest, and it includes the Huiarau, Ikawhenua, and Maungapōhatu ranges. There are a few flat mountain valleys, chiefly the Ahikereru valley, where the settlements of Minginui and Te Whāiti are, and the

Ruatāhuna Ruatāhuna is a small town in the remote country of Te Urewera, in the northeast of New Zealand's North Island. It is 90 kilometres directly west of Gisborne, and 18 kilometres northwest of Lake Waikaremoana. By road, it is 50 kilometres south ...

valley. In the north, towards

Whakatāne Whakatāne ( , ) is a town located in the Bay of Plenty Region, Bay of Plenty Region in the North Island of New Zealand, east of Tauranga and northeast of Rotorua. The town is situated at the mouth of the Whakatāne River. The Whakatāne Dis ...

and the coast, are lowland areas, where the settlements of

Ruatoki Ruatoki North is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty of New Zealand, just south of the small town of Tāneatua and approximately south of the town of Whakatāne. The Whakatāne River runs northwards through the Ruatoki Valley and has formed broa ...

and

are located. Lake Waikaremoana and Lake Waikareiti are in the south-eastern part. Most of Te Urewera is in the eastern

Bay of Plenty Region The Bay of Plenty Region is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region in the North Island of New Zealand. Also called just the Bay of Plenty (BOP), it is situated around the Bay of Plenty, marine bight of that same name. The bay was name ...

and northern

Hawke's Bay Region Hawke's Bay () is a region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region is named for Hawke Bay, which was named in honour of Edward Hawke. The region's main centres are the cities of Napier and Hastings, while the more rural ...

, with a small part in the

Gisborne District Gisborne District or the Gisborne Region (Māori language, Māori: ''Te Tairāwhiti'' or ''Te Tai Rāwhiti'') is a local government area of northeastern New Zealand. It is governed by Gisborne District Council, a unitary authority (with the co ...

. 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 Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authorities of New Zea ...

via

Murupara Murupara is a town in the Whakatāne District and Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. The town is in an isolated part of the region between the Kaingaroa Forest and Te Urewera protected area, on the banks of the Rangitaiki Riv ...

Wairoa Wairoa is the largest town in the Wairoa District and the northernmost town in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located on the northern shore of Hawke Bay at the mouth of the Wairoa River and to the west of Mā ...

History

The name ''Te Urewera'' is a

phrase meaning "The Burnt Penis" (compare ; ). 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 Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki ( 1832–1893) was a Māori leader and guerrilla fighter who was the founder of the Ringatū religion. While fighting alongside government forces against the Hauhau in 1865, he was accused of spying. Exiled to ...

, a Māori leader, found refuge from his pursuers among Tūhoe, with whom he formed an alliance. As with the

King Country The King Country ( Māori: ''Te Rohe Pōtae'' or ''Rohe Pōtae o Maniapoto'') is a region of the western North Island of New Zealand. It extends approximately from Kawhia Harbour and the town of Ōtorohanga in the north to the upper reaches of th ...

at the time, few

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

risked entering Te Urewera. 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. In the early 20th century Rua Kēnana Hepetipa formed a religious community at Maungapōhatu. In 1999, the

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. 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.

Status of the protected area

In 1954 much of Te Urewera was designated as the

, but that was disestablished in 2014, to be replaced by a new legal entity simply called Te Urewera. A land settlement was signed in June 2013 after being ratified by all Tūhoe members. 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, put into law by enacting the Tūhoe Claims Settlement Act 2014. The protected area is now administered by the Te Urewera Board, which comprises joint Tūhoe and Crown membership. Te Urewera has

legal personhood In law, a legal person is any person or legal entity that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on. The reason for the term "''legal'' person" is t ...

, and owns itself, having in 2014 become the first natural resource in the world to be awarded the same legal rights as a person. The new entity continues to meet the International Union for Conservation of Nature criteria for a Category II National Park. As of 2022, the members of the Te Urewera Board are

Jim Bolger James Brendan Bolger ( ; born 31 May 1935) is a New Zealand retired politician of the National Party who was the 35th prime minister of New Zealand, serving from 1990 to 1997. Bolger was born in Ōpunake, Taranaki, to Irish immigrants. Bef ...

Te Kūiti Te Kūiti is a town in the north of the King Country region of the North Island of New Zealand. It lies at the junction of New Zealand State Highway 3, State Highways 3 and New Zealand State Highway 30, 30 and on the North Island Main Trunk rail ...

, 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

, 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.

Flora and fauna

The crown fern ('' Blechnum discolor'') is a widespread

understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the Canopy (biology), forest ca ...

plant.

References

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

Geography

History

Status of the protected area

Flora and fauna

See also

References