From Ownership to Guardianship: Lessons from the Whanganui River
IHE Delft organized the screening of the documentary “I am the River and the River is Me” followed by a panel discussion. Kelsey Wentling reflects on how that movie challenges us to rethink our notions of nature and rivers.
In 2017 the Whanganui River took the groundbreaking step of becoming a legal person, the first river in the world to gain such status via the Te Awa Tupua, or Whanganui River Claims Settlement. A few weeks ago, the IHE Delft and greater Delft community came together at Filmhuis Lumen to watch and discuss a documentary exploring this topic and its implications for how we conceptualize natural landscapes and beings.
The film takes its name from a core tenet of the Settlement, which reads: “Ko au te Awa, ko te Awa ko au,” meaning, “I am the River and the River is me.” Through this simple yet profound proclamation, the inexorable relationship between Te Awa Tupua (the name of the Whanganui River as a legal person) and the Māori tribe, iwi, and descent/clan groups, hapū, is made explicit. Simply put, the wellbeing of the iwi and hapū cannot be defined apart from the Whanganui River.
This principle is evident in the opening scenes of the documentary as Ned Tapa, a Māori tribal leader, describes the river as the biggest part of who he is, inherently inseparable. As Ned navigates a small group of indigenous peoples from both Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Australia, accompanied by an artist and documentary film crew (led by Dutch director Petr Lom), the theme of indivisibility is woven throughout the film’s narrative. For example, Ned explains that his very identity is the identity of place, as he introduces himself not only by his name and tribe, but also by the river and landscape. From the onset of the film, the viewer is challenged to confront the notion of nature and humans as separate entities: “I am the River, the River is Me”.
Throughout their river journey, the group of paddlers explore what the Whanganui River, or their local rivers, means to their community and personal wellbeing. The documentary reflects the horror of colonization, the devastation wrought on indigenous ways of life, and depicts how reciprocal stewardship practices were supplanted by extractive and exploitive relationships with the river. The violence against human and natural life is described in the Te Awa Tupua, which enumerates 19 acknowledgments of wrongdoing and a multi-part apology on behalf of the British Crown. While certainly such acknowledgment and remembering is an important step in the process of atoning and healing, the documentary furthers this by ending with a question and call to action for all people: what is your relationship with your river and what is your role in protecting it?
The screening was followed by a panel discussion including three IHE Delft staff members: Margreet Zwarteveen, Emanuele Fantini, and myself, Kelsey Wentling. The conversation benefited from and was driven by the input and thoughtful questions from the audience, leading to a rich discussion on the role of rivers and the rights of nature in our respective communities.
Rewriting our Relationships with Rivers
In the conversation following the film, Emanuele prompted us to reflect on what it means to act as a guardian or steward of the environment. As we discussed how each of us can leverage our skills, resources, and privileges to act as stewards, it became clear that stewardship is contingent upon having a relationship with the natural beings around us. But what does this mean for those who feel cut off from nature, or who experience the reality of environmental destruction in their community? For example, an audience member asked how we can be expected to be guardians when we aren’t familiar with our local rivers and landscapes, while some participants explained that, especially in heavily developed or environmentally decimated areas, wild and natural places feel few and far between.
Such questions brought the discussion to the question of where the confines of nature begin and end, if at all. Can we describe the isolated city tree, surrounded by trash and dog waste as “wilderness” with which to make a relationship? After watching the film and listening to the discussion, I would argue: yes.
Colonial practices, which emphasize the importance of dominance and subjugation, have long guided western understandings regarding the boundaries of the natural world. This is evident in two major areas of thought regarding nature and wilderness: first, that nature is a social construct on which we impose our values and cultures; and second, that wilderness is an entity completely separate from human consciousness. In the first area of thought, we rob nature of its intrinsic value and autonomy outside of the cultural contexts and belief systems we impose upon nature. In this second area of thought, as argued by human geographer Kim Ward, we seek to define wilderness as a binary and in opposition to humans, in the sense that nature is inherently untouched by humans; we are not a part of the natural world.
The relationship between the iwi and Whanganui River provides an alternative to these conceptualizations of nature, acknowledging the reciprocal, intertwined relationship between people and rivers. As Ned states rather succinctly, we can have one of two relationships with our rivers: ownership or guardianship. In the latter, we choose to recognize rivers as a vital part of ourselves, and vice-versa.
The Te Awa Tupua recognizes the boundlessness of the Whanganui River, which includes not just the water flowing over the riverbed, but the mountains, the sea, and the innumerable physical and metaphysical beings. This definition is inclusive of people and recognizes the iwi and hapū as the face of the Whanganui River with an, “… inalienable connection with, and responsibility to, Te Awa Tupua and its health and well-being.”
“I am the River, the River is Me” challenges us to overhaul our notion of nature and rivers as something separate from ourselves, or even as “things,” at all. In her book, “Braiding Sweetgrass”, Potawatomi botanist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer suggests that to transform our relationship with nature, we must transform the way we speak about nature and use pronouns that recognize living beings in nature. Reimagining how to think and talk about nature starts the process of reforming our relationships within the natural world. To get started on this process, Ned leaves us with the simple instruction to go out and be with our rivers, to get to know them, and learn from them.
OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Kelsey Wentling (June 18, 2024). From Ownership to Guardianship: Lessons from the Whanganui River. FLOWs. Retrieved June 20, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/11uk4