When A River Becomes A Legal Person: A Short Journey Down New Zealand’s Whanganui River

Gary Wockner

The Whanganui is the longest navigable river in New Zealand, and its water and the land around it have been at the center of one of the longest legal battles in New Zealand history. In March of 2017, the Maori people living around the Whanganui River won the battle.

Rivers are made of water, and water comes from rain, and boy, did it rain. We came to New Zealand in February of 2018 and just happened to hit one of the rainier summer periods in local memory. It rained so much that the day before our three-day canoe trip on the Whanganui River the federal government shut down the river to recreational canoeing. And then it rained so much on the first day and night of our trip that the government shut it down again, stranding us in a hut on the riverbank. As we waited out the rain, massive trees and logs raced down the waterway, as did several dead goats and sheep.

The river was swollen, running fast, and alive.

How appropriate for the Whanganui, the first river on earth to gain “personhood” status.

The Whanganui is the longest navigable river in New Zealand, and its water and the land around it have been at the center of one of the longest legal battles in New Zealand history. In March of 2017, the Maori people living around the Whanganui River won the battle.

The legal victory gave “legal personhood” status to the river, allowed the Maori to designate a person to represent the river in court actions, and included land-settlement negotiations as well as a large financial settlement for the tribes in the area.

The night before our canoe trip departed, we had dinner with our outfitter-hosts at Owhango Adventures  in the tiny town of Owhango. Owhango Adventures also runs “cultural guided river trips” on the Whanganui. The meal was excellent – beef, potatoes, salad, and corn on the cob – and was prepared by Maori sisters Dianah and Maki Ngarongo, who work with Grant Lethborg to run the outfitting company and cultural river tours. After dinner, Dianah and Maki told us the compelling story of how the river gained personhood status as well as the moral philosophy that drives the Maori’s claim on the river and the landscapes around it.

Dianah is often a spokesperson representing the upper stretch of the river. Her warm, eloquent words came from the heart. She welcomed the idea that I could help “tell the story to the world” as she spoke of the feminine power of the Maori women who live along the river. She told us “the women are strong on the river,” and indeed she has been one of the strongest and most outspoken leaders. “We want the water and river in its natural state; we want to live sustainably on the river,” she told us.

The next morning, Dianah and Maki joined us at the put-in and sang a Maori prayer that welcomed us to the river. Our self-guided canoe trip began as we slid into a small tributary and then met the Whanganui a hundred yards downstream. Joining me in three canoes were my partner, Catherine Ebeling; my friend and his wife from Moab, John and Susette Weisheit; and our colleague from Australia, Andrew Kelly. John, Andrew and I are all “Waterkeepers” on our respective rivers and work with the international Waterkeeper Alliance to protect waterways across the world. We were thrilled to be paddling on the Whanganui, and to experience first-hand the river that has become a person.

The stretch of the upper Whanganui is a narrow canyon with rock walls and steep jungle forest careening down to the river. The rains had brought dozens of large waterfalls to life, their clear water crashing down the canyon walls into the muddy, swollen waterway. We raced along in the fast water mesmerized by the massive ferns, waterfalls and forest canopy. A sprinkle of rain joined us almost all of the first day but failed to dampen our spirits as we paddled into the John Coull Hut in late afternoon.

The National Parks and Conservation Areas on the North Island of New Zealand. Whanganui National Park is underlined in red. Department of Conservation, New Zealand

Part of the river is encompassed by Whanganui National Park in the southwest corner of the North Island, and it’s heavily protected and regulated by the New Zealand government. The Whanganui is a busy tourist river, with the upper stretch open to canoeing and the lower stretch open to jet boat tours that speed large numbers of tourists up and downstream.

New Zealand has a law called the “Water Conservation Order” that is similar to the U.S.’ “Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.” The Order protects fifteen rivers across New Zealand, but the Whanganui is not included in that list. Although the Whanganui has been considered for this type of federal protection, the legal settlement with the Maori took precedence and now protects the Whanganui by a different mechanism. The Whanganui is also not completely free-flowing due to a few small dams in its upper headwaters.

Day 3 on the river brought sun and more paddling as the government opened the river back up to canoeing. Although the flow had not decreased, the debris on the river had disappeared. As we pushed off into the flow, we were whisked downstream as if on a jet boat ourselves. We relaxed and gawked at even more waterfalls as we paddled back and forth in the canyon to stay in the warm sun. Our second night on the river was supposed to be at a hut operated by the Maori, called the “Tieke Kainga.” The rain and the strict regulation of the river kept us from extending our stay, but if you go, I recommend you stay at the Tieke Kainga, which everyone said was a warm and welcoming cultural experience.

As our three-day adventure ended at the take-out near Pipiriki, Grant Lethborg picked us up and took us back to Owhango. We had dinner again with Grant and Maki at their lodge-restaurant, where we mused about the rain and the swollen muddy river, and discussed the legal settlement and ongoing negotiations between the Maori and the New Zealand government.

The situation on the Whanganui is legally and politically complex, and it would be ill-advised to think of it as some sort of “pristine native” victory.

The Maori have been fighting for 175 years to get their land and water rights, and that fight has been filled with conflict and controversy amongst themselves as well as with the New Zealand government. As Dianah told us a few nights earlier, “This is not about an exotic tribal situation. We want self sufficiency, self reliance, self determination. We lost a lot of ancestors over the history of this fight. There’s a lot of bureaucracy. But we’re moving in the right direction.”

As the legal status and protection for the Whanganui moves forward, river conservationists around the world should look to it as an example, but also know and prepare for complex, controversial and long-term battles. We must do our work now, but it is likely our grandchildren who will see and feel the success of our efforts.

Gary Wockner, PhD, is an international environmental activist and writer, member of the Waterkeeper Alliance board of directors, volunteer for International Rivers, and author of the 2016 book, River Warrior: Fighting To Protect The World’s Rivers. Check out this short video of Gary paddling on the Whanganui River. Contact him at GaryWockner.com.