Māori heritage is recognised on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero (Rārangi Kōrero) through wāhi tapu, wāhi tapu areas and wāhi tūpuna/tīpuna.
Wāhi tapu
Wāhi tapu are defined in the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act (2014) as a place sacred to Māori in the traditional, spiritual, religious, ritual or mythological space, and wāhi tapu area means land that contains one or more wāhi tapu.
Wāhi tūpuna
A wāhi tūpuna means a place important to Māori for its ancestral significance and associated cultural and traditional values.
Recognition on the Rārangi Kōrero
Recognition on the Rārangi Kōrero is a way to actively care for Māori heritage by promoting the associated stories and tribal connections of those places. The listing process can enable a whānau, hapū or iwi to express their mana and knowledge about a place.
To discuss a potential wāhi tapu, wāhi tapu area or wāhi tūpuna/tīpuna, contact the pou in your nearest regional office.
Recognition on the Rārangi Kōrero
Listing can be a tool to help recognise the significance of wāhi tapu (sacred spaces) and wāhi tūpuna/tīpuna (ancestral place) that are in a tribal rohe.
Applications for listing wāhi can include places in Māori land ownership, private ownership or public ownership. The association to tūpuna and tribal entities is communicated to landowners and territorial authorities and can help you communicate appropriate uses for a place.
Our pou work with applicants to compile all relevant information about the place into a report. If an application is prioritised on the annual workplan, it can take between 6 months to a year for the report to be finalised.
The report can be useful for whānau, marae or iwi/hapū records, educational projects, and can avoid the loss of kōrero for future generations.
Reports have been used to assist with iwi management planning, funding, as evidence in court cases, for the preparation of Treaty claims and post-settlement development.
We support the rangatiratanga of hapū and iwi over their sacred and ancestral places. We do not assume ownership or control of a Wāhi.
Rārangi Kōrero
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