Decolonising Settler Hazardscapes of the Waipā: Māori and Pākehā Remembering of Flooding in the Waikato 1900-1950

Abstract

This chapter explores how the settler colonial project to remake the landscapes and waterscapes of Aotearoa New Zealand contributed to the creation of new hazardscapes closely tied to Māori dispossession and marginalisation. In particular, actions to clear indigenous vegetation, introduce exotic biota, and drain wetlands contributed to increased incidence of flooding within lowland areas that were previously wetlands. During the early to mid-twentieth century, regular floods occurred within the catchments of the Waikato and Waipā Rivers and resulted in individuals and governments implementing further government and private engineering works aimed at the reduction of flood risks. The histories of these extreme environmental events, however, remain largely unexplored by environmental historians, geographers, and disaster scholars. We argue that colonisation itself was (and continues to be) a disaster for indigenous peoples, and the Māori experiences of floods in the Waikato were mediated through their ongoing experiences of dispossession and marginalisation. In particular, the strategies introduced to manage flood hazards frequently resulted in Māori being further deprived of their land and resource rights and the destruction of Māori sites of cultural significance. Through the use of decolonialising narrative analysis, we demonstrate how actions to address flood hazards in the Waikato frequently addressed the concerns and perceived vulnerabilities of Pākehā/Europeans, while marginalising the knowledge, values, and livelihoods of Māori, and consequently contributed to loss of resilience amongst Māori communities to cope with shocks and disruptions.