Taranaki Maunga, the second-highest mountain on New Zealand’s North Island, has been granted the same legal rights as humans.
This is the third natural landmark in the country to gain the same rights and privileges as a human being. The mountain’s new rights are tied to its importance to Māori culture and have been a long-awaited move, as the indigenous people consider it an ancestor.
Taranaki Mountain lies on the North Island’s west coast and is one of the most symmetrical volcanic cones in the world. It is also New Zealand’s most climbed mountain and is a highly visited tourist destination.
Taranaki Mountain is important to New Zealand
“Today, Taranaki, our maunga [mountain], our maunga tupuna [ancestral mountain], is released from the shackles, the shackles of injustice, of ignorance, of hate,” said Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, co-leader of political party Te Pāti Māori (the Māori Party).
The granting of legal person rights for the landmark means that it cannot be harmed and must be treated with the utmost respect. The same legal protection was given to Te Urewara in 2014 and the Whanganui River in 2017.
“When we think about the concept of personhood, what we are doing is putting in place a very Māori Indigenous concept into Western law,” said Jamie Tuuta, Chief negotiator for Taranaki Mounga. “When we view them as being ancestors … what we ultimately look to do is to see behavior change.”
The difference between Taranaki and the other landmarks granted human rights is that it will be the only one referred to solely by its Māori name. This means that its former name, Mount Egmont, given under colonial rule by explorer James Cook in the 18th century, is relegated to history. Subsequently, the surrounding peaks around Taranaki will also have their Māori names restored.
The settlement is the latest in a series of moves seen as reparations for breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi over time. This treaty officially established New Zealand as a country and granted Indigenous people specific rights to land and resources. Indeed, the settlement’s announcement came with an apology for taking Taranaki Maunga and a million acres of land from the local Māori population in the 1860s.
Hundreds of Taranaki Iwi members traveled to Wellington, New Zealand’s capital, to be there for the final bill reading, witnessing a promise made in 2016 to designate human rights to Taranaku to be put into action.
“Today we affirm what we have always known – our [mountain] is, and never was, a crown asset – it is our [ancestor], the living, breathing embodiment of our identity … as Taranaki,” said Ngarewa-Packer.
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