Hapu¯ to watch over dangerous waterfall
Members of a Tauranga hapu¯ will be taking time off the marae this summer to keep an eye on visitors to a dangerous waterfall that has proved irresistible to snap-happy tourists.
The Omanawa Falls in the Kaimai Range near Tauranga can be accessed only by climbing down a hazardous cliff face. The falls have always been closed to the public due to safety concerns.
In 2018, one person drowned, and over the years a number of others have been seriously injured.
But danger signs attempting to keep people away – both locals and tourists – have been ignored for a number of years, as seen by the thousands of pictures posted on social media. As kaitiaki of the area, members of Nga¯ti Hangarau hapu¯ will be stationed at the entrance of the falls until April.
Hapu¯ spokesman Koro Nicholas said the main aim of kaitiaki being at the falls was to look after the whenua and the mauri of the Omanawa River by educating people on the significance of the site to local Ma¯ori.
He said people illegally climbing down to the waterfall – along with those who had been injured or died – affected the mauri and the
wairua of the place which was precious to mana whenua.
‘‘People don’t know the dangers of it, they don’t know the stories about it so they don’t treat it with the respect and reverence that we treat it with.
‘‘We’ve noticed over the years, nomatter
how wide or how high you build the fence, people will still find a way around it. It’s such a huge social influence out there.’’
He said the hapu¯ has been in the area for a thousand years and want to share their history with manuhiri (visitors).
‘‘We’re not the police, we’re not security guards. We’re just cuzzies from down at the marae down the road that are trying to be proactive and look after our whenua, look after our stories, and look after the mauri of our awa, our river.’’
He said this was the first time the hapu¯ had tried the educative approach as kaitiaki. ‘‘We’re not going to put our people in harm’s way. Some of the people that go up there aren’t the nicest people, and they have a set course in mind.
‘‘If they still choose to go and something bad happens, well that’s pretty much on their head.’’
He said the hapu¯ wants to establish that respect for the falls in the local community, visitors and also companies, such as Trustpower.
‘‘People don’t know what they don’t know. Some people are ignorant, some people are ambivalent about things like this.
‘‘What we can do to be a bit more proactive and a long-lasting solution is to educate people instead of moaning and just saying no all the time.
‘‘In the end, we decided the best course of action in the long run is to provide safe access to the falls. It’s not there yet, but we are in the process of getting that safe access built.’’
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