Pā Tūna ki Pokaiwhenua – A Raukawa Lens
Pā Tuna (eel weirs) have played an important role for Raukawa over the centuries. Historically, they have identified where iwi/hapū affiliations lie along river systems. They have added in the collection of a valuable food source. So priced where they, that in some circumstances intertribal war broke out over them. The Pā Tuna model holds important cultural values for the Māori people.
However, the change in environment and the impact of colonisation has seen this hugely valued practise almost completely disappear.
The Pokaiwhenua Pā Tuna project is an effort to reclaim these traditional practices and apply them in a modern context to address environmental challenges in the Raukawa Rohe. The project focuses on the Pā Tuna model, a traditional mahinga kai (fishing) method used for catching eels and aims to reinvent the model as a means of monitoring and assessing the water quality in the Pokaiwhenua stream, a catchment of the Waikato River. The Pā Tuna project seeks to integrate Matauranga Māori and western science to provide an innovative solution to environmental issues in the region. Tuna (eels) hold great significance for Māori. They are a taonga species and provided for our cultural, physical, and economical needs. For Raukawa, they were and are an important indicator for health and wellbeing of waterways and the environment.
The Pā Tuna project seeks to bring together traditional Māori practices and the advancements of western science to address environmental issues in the Raukawa Rohe and offer unique and sustainable solutions. The project is carried out on the Pokaiwhenua awa, traditionally a river that held many Pā Tuna.
We look forward to sharing with you our journey on reclaiming this important practise, how it may be reinvented to assist with the challenges we face today.