Heretaunga haukū nui : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Māori Studies) at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Relationships with the environment for Ngati Hawea sit at the core of everyday living. Everything is connected. The essence of this philosophy arises from whakapapa, mauri, mana and tikanga. Practices based on an understanding of the environment have supported Ngati Hawea in maintaining and sustaining whanau and communities for many centuries. At present, key natural and physical resource management legislation define obligations and relationships when working with Maori in this space. In Aotearoa New Zealand, the Local Government Act 2002 and the Resource Management Act 1991 requires engagement and capacity for Maori to contribute to the decision-making processes of any local authority in its operations. This project aims to contribute to the bigger picture around engagement with Maori, and furthermore Maori-Council relationships. This project seeks how effective engagement brings with it not only opportunities for Maori, hapu and local government players, but also the different meanings and expectations that stakeholders bring to inclusive practices and the implications for policy engagement. This study is interested in the processes by which Maori and the Hawkes Bay Regional Council engage with each other, and examines the ways in which natural resource management operations recognize and facilitate hapu values, interests and aspirations under statute. A Kaupapa Maori approach provided a vital lens as a methodological direction drawing upon the synergies and critical qualitative methodologies in relation to creating culturally appropriate research. I was able to explore the mechanisms of engagement and factors affecting the recognition and facilitation of hapu values, rights, and interests aspirations in natural resource management operations in Te matau a Maui tikitiki-a-Taranga. Responces shared by participants in this study highlighted that the mechanisms the Hawkes Bay Regional Council use to engage with Maori need to be reviewed and enhanced as there are issues related to the recognition and integration of hapu values, rights, interests and aspirations in local government resource management operations. This Thesis offers recommendations to the Hawkes Bay Regional Council, Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Incoporated and Mana Whenua around the importance is recognising philosophical ideologies around the ancestral relationship Maori have with the environment, which are key to asserting hapu values, interests and aspirations over whenua and water. Furthermore, it offers recommendations around effective and meaningful engagement with Maori, and the recognition and facilitation of hapu values, rights, interests and aspirations in natural resource management operations in Te Matau a Maui tikitiki-a-Taranga, Hawkes Bay