Resource management and Māori attitudes to water in southern New Zealand

Abstract

Pre-contact Māori regarded land and water as a single entity, with a common regime of resource management practices. Underpinning these was a world-view that involved unique spiritual concepts, the most important of which was mauri: the notion that a body of water had its own life-force. Waters were classified according to the state of their mauri. The paper outlines traditional approaches and how they are applied today.