Does the Whanganui River Own Itself?

ABSTRACT: Since it was introduced, the legal personhood of Te Awa Tupua (the Whanganui River—located in the North Island of Aotearoa, New Zealand) has often been associated with the broader international discourse on rights of nature. This article focuses on one specific aspect of this association: the extent to which legal personhood can be said to result in ‘self-ownership’ for the Whanganui River. The legal personality of the river has been recognized by the Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act 2017, which is intended to give effect to a Treaty of Waitangi settlement between Whanganui iwi (a collective terms for Māori tribal groups associated with the river) and the New Zealand Government (or ‘Crown’). The purpose of the Act means that it is necessary to have an understanding of te ao Māori (the Māori world) and tikanga Māori (Māori law and custom), and of the relational values and ontology that provide its foundations, in order to understand the legal personhood of the river. In tikanga Māori, concepts such as whakapapa (ancestral genealogy) and whanaungatanga (a relational ethic of kinship) are fundamental. These concepts encompass more-than-human nature and directly challenge the human/nature dichotomy that sits at the heart of Western property law. To support the inquiry into the extent to which legal personhood can be said to result in self-ownership for the Whanganui River, this article is divided into three parts. In the first part, some key principles of tikanga Māori are introduced, and the relationship of these principles to certain Western jural concepts that are relevant to ownership is discussed. In the second part, ownership of freshwater is discussed. In the third and final part, the question of self-ownership is considered in the light of the preceding discussions.