Description

Wairarapa Moana: The Lake and Its People tells the story of the North Island’s third largest lake complex from the mists of Māori myths to the realities of today’s environmental problems. Thirteen contributors, all authoritive in their fields, have written about Māori and Pākeha history, the area’s archaeology and the moulding of its landscape, the control of water in Wairarapa Moana’s complex of lakes, rivers and wetlands, about the diverse and sometimes rare fauna and flora, and about the clashes between European farming and Māori cultural values. Most significantly, there is also the little known saga of the Māori gifting of Lake Wairarapa to the Crown in 1896, the subsequent trail of broken promises and the deceit until, finally, the people of Wairarapa Moana triumphed with their successful development of the Pouākani lands in the Waikato. The book is in full colour, with hundreds of photographs, paintings and maps.