Tākaka River

An ancient summer trail follows the course of the Tākaka River from the river mouth to Cobb Valley to the Wangapeka track. This linked the southern end of Golden Bay with the West Coast and Kawatiri. The Cobb Valley limestone caves were used by Ngāti Apa tīpuna as urupā and remain tapu today.

Ngāti Apa lived in a series of pā and kāinga along the Tākaka and valued the Tākaka as an important mahinga kai. Its pure water was once abundant in fish such as upokorokoro (grayling or native trout), as well as inanga, kōkopu and tuna; and birds such as kererū, kiwi, kākāpō, weka, korimako (bellbird) and kōkō (tūī). There were also extensive Ngāti Apa cultivations associated with the river.

Te Motupiko (Motupiko River)

An ancient trail follows the course of the Motupiko and Motueka Rivers from Mangatāwhai, or “The Place of Many Trails‟ (Tophouse, near the Nelson Lakes). This formed the main track linking Mohua (Golden Bay) and Te Tai-o-Aorere (Tasman Bay) with the Wairau and Kawatiri areas.

A series of Ngāti Apa pā, kāinga, mahinga kai (especially birding areas) and cultivations are associated with the Motupiko River.

Ngāti Apa valued Te Motupiko as an important mahinga kai. Its pure water was abundant in fish such as upokorokoro (grayling or native trout), as well as inanga, kōkopu and tuna (eels); and birds such as kererū and kōkō (tūī). Some of these are now virtually extinct as a result of the effects of settlement, river diversion and pollution.

Te Anatori (Anatori River)

The Anatori River was named by Ngāti Apa tīpuna and a trail alongside linked with other major routes (including what is now known as the Heaphy Track) and the Aorere River. A series of kāinga and cultivations were positioned along its lower reaches, including Te Awatūroto and Taurangahīoi at Whanganui Inlet.

Ngāti Apa valued Te Anatori as an important mahinga kai. Its pure water was abundant in fish such as kōkopu, inanga, kahawai, kekewai and kōura, and birds such as kererū, tōrea (oystercatcher), kōkō (tūī), korimako (bellbird) and tōrea.

Te Waimea (Waimea River)

Ngāti Apa valued Te Waimea as an important mahinga kai. Its pure water was abundant with fish such as mako and pātiki in the estuarine waters at the mouth of the river, as well as kōkopu, inanga, kahawai, kekewai and kōura, and a rich source of birds such as kākā, kererū and kōkō (tūī). The river environs were also a good source of flax, and clay used in the process of drying the flax came from the river near the inland foothills of the ranges.

Te Waimea also formed a water source for the renowned Waimea gardens, located at the mouth of the Waimea River adjacent to a pā and kāinga complex. Smaller “satellite” pā were located elsewhere on the banks of the river and at the junction of the Wairoa and Wai-iti rivers. This was a site of great significance to Ngāti Apa and the other Kurahaupō iwi.

Around 1000 acres of cultivation located near the river mouth represent generations of sustained effort by the tīpuna. The cultivation land was built up with ash (to provide potash and lime), gravel and fine sand and silt to raise soil temperatures and was highly suitable for kūmara production. The modified soil remains darker and more productive than surrounding soil to this day. Huge pits nearby reveal the source of gravel. The extent of these gardens and the effort involved in creating them indicates that the area was once occupied by a substantial population.

Early chiefs of this place were Te Hāpuku and Te Pipiha. The latter was killed here during the northern invasions. Other tīpuna associated with Waimea were Titiko and Whakatapihi. After the northern invasions many tīpuna from the pā moved to another pā in what later became known as Budges Bush, in the Wairoa River Valley on the north slope of Mount Heslington.

Ngāti Apa were among those who continued to cultivate and occupy the land until at least the mid-1840s, when produce grown in the extensive gardens was traded with the Nelson settlers at a market in the town at Matangi Āwhio (Auckland Point). Waimea was a residence of the tipuna Meihana Kereopa at this time.