Tapu would stay ‘forever'

Press, 26 July 1984, Page 6

Tapu would stay ‘forever '

PA Rotorua If a tapu was put on the Kaituna River because it was carrying sewerage effluent it could remain in force forever, it was suggested to the Waitangi Tribunal in Rotorua yesterday. A Ngati Pikiao, Mr Stan Newton, said that once the proposed nutrient pipe-line went ahead there would be no solution to any tapu. Because the pollution would be there all the time the tapu would have to remain, Mr Newton said. He was answering a question posed by the tribunal yesterday, for which he had been given extra time to frame an answer. The Maori Land Court Chief, Judge E. D. Durie, had asked Mr Newton why food from the Kaituna River would becorgp unacceptable when food was still being harvested from the

lake system into which the effluent was now being discharged. Mr Newton said yesterday that the concept of tapu was territorial and limited to the area over which the person who invoked the tapu had authority. He said that his people continued to harvest food from the lake and Ohau Channel, which links it to Lake Rotoiti, because that was part of the treasures left by their ancestors. The Ngati Pikiao continued to take the food knowing full well the water was polluted. In spite of realising the disastrous effects which could be latent in the pollution, the tribe was not concerned about food which in outward appearances had not changed in quality. In other evidence yesterday, a weaving tutor at the New Zealand Maori Arts

and Crafts Institute, Rotorua, Mrs Emily Schuster, said that the bush along the Kaituna River was the source of flax supply for making baskets, mats, and backing for ifeather cloaks. She said the flax used had to be of good quality if the articles were to last. An .important part of processing the flax for use was washing it in clear running water. The process could not be carried out in water that was discoloured and dirty. According to Mrs Schuster, progress had killed many Maori cultural traditions. “Progress changes things so much that the Maori people suddenly find they hare to travel long distances for materials for

their arts and crafts,” she said. Another speaker, acting chairman of the Arawa Trust Board, Mr Alec Wilson, described Lake Rotorua as a desert. Several traditional foods such as koura, or crayfish, had disappeared from the lake. He blamed it on pollution caused by discharge into it of sewerage effluent Mr Wilson also blamed the effluent discharge for causing a rash on young Maori swimmers at Ohinemutu about three years ago. He said local people now refused to allow their children to swim in the lake. He also claimed that during storms and floods raw sewage could be seen entering the lake. The hearing 'fesumes today.