I am the River, the River is me. In the early summer months of 2017, the parliament in New Zealand passed a law declaring that Te Awa Tupua—the river and all its elements to be “an indivisible and living whole,” who possess “all the rights, powers, duties, and liabilities” of a legal person.
This decision brought to close a court battle that had stretched over generations, and was hailed to be the first of its kind in the world. But to Gerrard Albert, the lead negotiator for the Whanganui iwi [tribe], the Whanganui is not the river of statute, but the river that completes him. It is his kin.
The tribes of Whanganui bear an inalienable connection with the River. A local saying goes:
The Great River flows from the mountains to the sea. I am the River, the River is me.
The Guardian had reported, that the Maori representatives wept with joy when their plea to have their ancestor recognised as a living entity was finally passed into law after 140 years of litigation.
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