Listener 20 May 1991, republished in in J. Gilbert, G. Jones, T. Vitalis, & R. Walker Introduction to Management in New Zealand (1992) p.77.
Keywords: Environment & Resources; Maori;
I was recently involved in a claim to the Waitangi Tribunal by the five Muriwhenua iwi, in the far north, for the return of their rangatiratanga over Te Oneroa-O-Tohe or, as Pakeha call it, Ninety Mile Beach. In the course of preparing my evidence I was struck by the depletion of kaimoana – offshore fish and shellfish – over the period of European involvement. We are so familiar with the destruction of fish, forest, bird and soil in the last 150 years that it is only rarely that we are made to confront the issue as to why it happened.