North Island

Across the island, tour companies and cultural organizations run by Māori communities abound. This is due in part to the Waitangi Tribunal, which Māori citizens negotiated with the New Zealand government in 1975. This court investigates and addresses grievances related to the Crown’s enforcement of the 1840 treaty of the same name, which established the British colony there and was intended to protect Indigenous rights. Since the commission’s founding, over $2 billion in damages have been paid, and this year, the government approved $8 million in funds for Māori tourism.

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Now visitors can take guided tours along the crystal clear Hamurana Springs Nature Reserve, led by descendants of the Ngāti Rangiwewehi people who first came to the area in the 14th century. Māori-run tour companies also offer guided canoe trips along the Whanganui River. Many villages across the island provide traditional and community-supported cultural experiences for tourists, such as waka (canoe) paddling, kapa haka (dance) performances, traditional pit-cooked meals, and weaving. In the Northlands region above Auckland, Māori guides walk visitors through the Waipoua Forest, home to the country’s largest living Kauri tree. This more conscious form of tourism has helped the Māori in Wai-O-Tapu implement composting, grow more than a thousand native plants, eliminate invasive species, and conserve water across the land.