Ko au te Awa, ko te Awa ko au

In 2017, the New Zealand government granted legal rights to the Whanganui River. It enshrined the relationship and ancestral connection of the Whanganui Iwi, the Māori people of the river. This relationship existed long before the colonisation of Aotearoa.

The decision recognised that English common law is just one worldview among many. And it can evolve to reflect Indigenous legal principles.

Land ‘ownership’ is not a universal law. The Iwi of the river hold a common understanding: Ko au te Awa, ko te Awa ko au. I am the River, and the River is me.

Dan Cheater “I am the River, and the River is me: Legal personhood and emerging rights of nature” West Coast Environmental Law March 22, 2018

Image: Whanganui River. Credit: James Shook.