The vesting of pounamu back to Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu brings to the fore a whole new dimension of resource mangement to New Zealand�s wider resource management environment. As is highlighted in this study and noted by a number of academics, Maori people, like other indigenous communities, have their own planning systems values and appropriate processes for decision-making about the environment. But the relevance of such indigenous management systems has long been overlooked by the decision makers and authorities to the continued frustration and anxiety of indigenous peoples. This lack of recognition has been at the fore as a concept fundamental to many indigenous peoples grievances, both past and present. The subsequent vesting of pounamu has brought about the validation that Maori have to resource management rights. In identifying issues associated with the management of natural resources by indigenous peoples, this study provides an examination of number theoretical concepts and a practical dimension associated with the management of natural resources by indigenous peoples and has placed pounamu in context. The placement of pounamu in context has provided the basis from which a number of central issues were identified and discussed. A combination a literature study, analysis of an application traditional knowledge in a contemporary context and in-depth interviews and liaison with key stakeholders involved directly and indirectly in the management of pounmau were undertaken, has established that the management of natural resources by indigenous people is more about the management of number of associated processes rather than about the management of a single commodity, in this instance pounamu. Within these processes there exist a number of complex relationships that reflect the fundamental transaction of power and privilege associated with natural resource management. Further conclusions that this study has made, is the increasing need and importance of legislatures and planning professionals alike to further recognise the validity and become familiar with alternate methods of resource management and the application of indigenous systems and methods.

The vesting of pounamu back to Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu brings to the fore a whole new dimension of resource mangement to New Zealand�s wider resource management environment. As is highlighted in this study and noted by a number of academics, Maori people, like other indigenous communities, have their own planning systems values and appropriate processes for decision-making about the environment. But the relevance of such indigenous management systems has long been overlooked by the decision makers and authorities to the continued frustration and anxiety of indigenous peoples. This lack of recognition has been at the fore as a concept fundamental to many indigenous peoples grievances, both past and present. The subsequent vesting of pounamu has brought about the validation that Maori have to resource management rights. In identifying issues associated with the management of natural resources by indigenous peoples, this study provides an examination of number theoretical concepts and a practical dimension associated with the management of natural resources by indigenous peoples and has placed pounamu in context. The placement of pounamu in context has provided the basis from which a number of central issues were identified and discussed. A combination a literature study, analysis of an application traditional knowledge in a contemporary context and in-depth interviews and liaison with key stakeholders involved directly and indirectly in the management of pounmau were undertaken, has established that the management of natural resources by indigenous people is more about the management of number of associated processes rather than about the management of a single commodity, in this instance pounamu. Within these processes there exist a number of complex relationships that reflect the fundamental transaction of power and privilege associated with natural resource management. Further conclusions that this study has made, is the increasing need and importance of legislatures and planning professionals alike to further recognise the validity and become familiar with alternate methods of resource management and the application of indigenous systems and methods.

As human beings we are continually interacting with the landscape, and have been doing so throughout the entire course of our evolution. This thesis specifically investigates the way in which hunter-gatherers negotiate and interact with their landscapes, focusing on three patterns of behaviour: wayfinding, mapmaking and territoriality. An examination of the relevant international literature reveals that globally, hunter-gatherer groups both past and present share a number of similarities with regard to their wayfinding and mapmaking techniques, territorial behaviour. A case study of Maori interaction with the landscape of prehistoric and protohistoric Te Wai Pounamu [the South Island] provides further support for the central argument that hunter-gatherers collectively negotiate and interact with the landscape in distinctive ways. This is contrasted with the interaction of European explorers and travellers with the 19th century landscape of Te Wai Pounamu in Chapter 5. It is determined that hunter-gatherers use detailed cognitive or 'mental' maps to navigate their way through a range of landscape from dense forests to barren plains. These maps often consist of sequences of place names that represent trails. These cognitive maps are most commonly developed through direct interaction with the landscape, but can also be formed vicariously through ephemeral maps drawn with the purpose of communicating geographical knowledge. Prior to European contact, little importance seems to have been given to artefactual or 'permanent' maps within hunter-gatherer societies as the process of mapmaking was generally regarded as more significant than the actual product. Although the literature on hunter-gatherer territoriality is complex and in some cases conflicting, it is contended that among a number of hunter-gatherer groups, including prehistoric and protohistoric Maori in Te Wai Pounamu, interaction and negotiation with the landscape was/is not restricted to exclusive territories marked by rigidly defined boundaries. Among these groups, a specific method of territoriality known as 'social boundry defence' was/is employed. This involves controlling access to the social group inhabiting an area rather than access to the area itself, as with groups utilising the territorial method of 'perimeter defence'.

Life was difficult in Te Wai Pounamu before European contact. Food collecting had to return more calories than were expended in the efforts of acquisition. Areas where food was available were conserved as well as enhanced and were exploited seasonally in such a way as to optimise each season's take. It is suggested that the absence of kumera cultivations south of the Opihi river, prior to the introduction of the potato towards the end of the 18th Century, was clearly reflected in Maori life-style and social structure. Hapu were resource based rather than regional, and the resources of various hapu might be intermingled over a wide area or indeed, in some cases, shared (see: Anderson, 1980). The "orthodox" view (Anderson, 1980, etc.) is one of "Hunters and Gatherers" who exploit available resources. I argue that the resources were, in fact, managed with a view to sustainable and optimal harvests in the future. I shall apply Harris' (1987:75) optimal foraging theory in an endeavour to show that there are signs of the quality of life as a result of a low per capita human energy input into food production. This is principally evidenced by the foods eaten just for pleasure (kai rehia) and the time available for optional activities. Accordingly, kai and the practices to control them differed from the often better documented food resources of more Northern parts of Te Wai Pounamu and Aotearoa. Nevertheless, the absence of horticulture in the south and the concomitant peripatetic life-style did not result in a lack of stewardship of resources. Based substantially on the analysis of a series of mahika kai lists, collected from elders early in the contact period, and details of traditional practices that have been handed down, this thesis argues that by 1780, when Captain Cook introduced European goods, southern Kai Tahu had in place effective procedures and practices for the sustainable use of renewable resources.