Kei te mihi a Ngāi Tahu Whānui ki a koutou.
Nau mai, haere mai, tauti mai.
Greetings and salutations to you all from the people of Ngāi Tahu. Welcome.
Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, first arrived in waka unua (double hulled voyaging canoes) from Hawaiki more than 600 years ago.
Māori connections with the sea, rivers and lakes of Aotearoa, New Zealand, are steeped in history going right back to the traditional accounts of creation. The Te Waipounamu (South Island) creation account tells of the ancient atua, or demi-god, Aoraki, being wrecked in his canoe, Te Waka o Aoraki. The wreckage formed the South Island with the Marlborough Sounds being the shattered Tau Ihu (carved prow) and Motupōhue (Bluff Hill) being the sternpost.