Tekapo RiverThe Tekapo River flows occasionally through the Mackenzie Basin, Canterbury, in New Zealand's South Island, although the riverbed is now often dry in the upper reaches. It maintains a constant flow below the confluence of several tributaries, notably the Maryburn, Forks, and Grays rivers.
Waitaha (South Island iwi)Waitaha is an early Māoriiwi who inhabited the South Island of New Zealand. They were largely absorbed via marriage and conquest – first by the Ngāti Māmoe and then by Ngāi Tahu – from the 16th century onward. Today those of Waitaha descent are represented by the Ngāi Tahu iwi. Like Ngāi Tahu today, Waitaha was itself a collection of various ancient iwi. Kāti Rākai was said to be one of Waitaha's hapū.
Mackenzie BasinThe Mackenzie Basin (Māori: Te Manahuna), popularly and traditionally known as the Mackenzie Country, is an elliptical intermontanebasin located in the Mackenzie and Waitaki Districts, near the centre of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest such basin in New Zealand. Historically famous mainly for sheep farming, the sparsely populated area is now also a popular tourism destination.
Lake PukakiLake Pukaki (Māori: Pūkaki) is the largest of three roughly parallel alpine lakes running north–south along the northern edge of the Mackenzie Basin on New Zealand's South Island. The others are Lakes Tekapo and Ōhau. All three lakes were formed when the terminal moraines of receding glaciers blocked their respective valleys, forming moraine-dammed lakes. The Alps2Ocean mountain bike trail follows the edge of Lake Pukaki for part of its length.
Lake ŌhauLake Ōhau is a lake in the Mackenzie Basin in the South Island of New Zealand. The Hopkins and Dobson rivers fed into the northern end of Lake Ōhau. These rivers have their headwaters in the Southern Alps. The lake's outflow is the Ōhau River, which travels from the southeast corner of Lake Ōhau and feeds into the Waitaki Riverhydroelectric project.RākaihautūRākaihautū was the captain of the Uruaokapuarangi canoe (waka) and a Polynesian ancestor of various iwi, most famously of Waitaha and other southern groups, though he is also known in the traditions of Taitokerau and in those of Rarotonga.
South IslandThe South Island (official alternative name Te Waipounamu, from Māori) is the larger of the two main islands of New Zealand by surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. With a population of 1,256,700 as of June 2025, the South Island is home to 24% of New Zealand's 5.3 million inhabitants. The most populous cities are Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson and Invercargill.Mackenzie District CouncilMackenzie District Council is the territorial authority for the Mackenzie District of New Zealand. Its headquarters are at Fairlie. The council is led by the mayor of Mackenzie, who is currently Scott Aronsen. There are also seven ward councillors. Following a cancer diagnosis that Munro made public in late 2024, she took extended leave from January 2025, with Karen Morgan as deputy mayor filling in.
Ngāi TahuNgāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori iwi (tribe) of the South Island. Its takiwā (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim), Mount Māhanga and Kahurangi Point in the north to Stewart Island / Rakiura in the south. The takiwā comprises 18 rūnanga (governance areas) corresponding to traditional settlements.
Waka (canoe)Waka (Māori:) are Māori watercraft, usually canoes ranging in size from small, unornamented canoes (waka tīwai) used for fishing and river travel to large, decorated war canoes (waka taua) up to 40 metres (130 ft) long. The earliest remains of a canoe in New Zealand were found near the Anaweka estuary in a remote part of the Tasman District and radiocarbon-dated to about 1400.
Digging stickA digging stick, sometimes called a yam stick, is a wooden implement used primarily by subsistence-based cultures to dig out underground food such as roots and tubers, tilling the soil, or burrowing animals and anthills. It is a term used in archaeology and anthropology to describe similar implements, which usually consists of little more than a sturdy stick which has been shaped or sharpened and sometimes hardened by being placed temporarily in a fire.
Māori languagePolynesian language spoken in New ZealandMāori (Māori:; endonym: te reo Māori, 'the Māori language', also shortened to te reo) is an Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost member of the Austronesian language family, it is related to Cook Islands Māori, Moriori, Tuamotuan, and Tahitian.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.