KOE KOE Ā
Mārahau beach. Bottom right: looking on to Abel Tasman National Park.
Mārahau ‘O
W I T H T H E W H E N UA
n a good day, it’s beautiful here,’ says
dawn blessings at five in the morning, yes, I set an
Renee Thomas (Ngāti Rārua, Ngāti Tama),
alarm.’
kaitiaki for Wakatū Incorporation on the
4
R E C ON N E C T I NG
This soil here, dark and friable, has been owned
whenua at Mārahau. ‘On a bad day, it’s pretty bad.
by the families of Wakatū for generations. The
The house shakes, and that’s not even the wind; it’s
whānau and hapū settled here at Mārahau in the
the sea hitting the sand. It’s very exposed.’ All the
early 1800s and have owned the land ever since.
same, at Mārahau she feels her senses returning.
Originally part of the wider papakāinga, the land
‘I’m more aware of my surroundings. Being so much
and foreshore area at Mārahau was reserved for
closer to nature allows you to be more open to
the benefit of the Māori customary owners as part
things, to what’s going on. I’ll pick up wind shifts
of the Nelson Tenths’ Estate in 1845. The land at
and know that rain’s coming. I go to bed when it’s
Mārahau was vested in Wakatū in 1977. It’s been
dark, wake up when it’s light. I don’t set an alarm –
managed by the Committee of Management (the
I rise naturally.’ Then she laughs: ‘Ok, when we have
Wakatū Board) on behalf of the Owners ever since.
