Whanganui river near Te Ao Hou marae Photo: Mark Amery
“Ko au te awa. Ko te awa ko au” or “I am the river, the river is me” is a phrase common to Māori on the Whanganui River.
New Zealand’s longest navigable river, Te Awa o Whanganui has connected people for generations. Formerly a major transport route and still much used today, it’s dotted with marae weaving through a diverse landscape. Close to 150 settlements have been recorded, from the mountains of the Volcanic Plateau, through bush, farmland and city to the sea.
The Whanganui River was recognised as a living person in groundbreaking Aotearoa New Zealand law in 2017. For many who live along its banks, that simply validated a deep spiritual connection from which they draw.
One of many marae on the banks is Te Ao Hou, on the very Eastern edge of the city. The principal hapū is Ngāti Tupoho of the iwi Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi.
Geoff Hipango at Te Ao Hou marae Photo: Mark Amery
Geoff Hipango is the chairperson of Te Ao Hou and grew up here. Under his leadership the marae is gaining a reputation for innovation in thinking of the wellness of people across Māori arts, health, culture and the environment, with activity entwined with the river.
Hipango oversees tourism projects up the river, hosts a monthly community dinner for up to 200 people, manages the region’s carving school (where river waka are being carved), the marae’s permaculture gardens, and is spearheading a unique affordable ecohousing development of tiny houses. Here in recent years they have hosted universities studying the river’s new status.
Hipango is connecting the river to community social cohesion, aided by Matauranga Māori to provide a healing place for Māori and non-Māori.
Looking out across the gardens to the river at Te Ao Hou marae Photo: Mark Amery
