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Kuaka are gathering at harbours and estuaries around Aotearoa after making the 11,000 km flight from their Alaskan and Siberian breeding grounds.
Sheridan Waitai from Ngāti Kurī says far north iwi have a long association with the valiant godwits, which gather around Parengarenga Harbour.
She says her matauranga she received from her grandmother, the late Saana Murray, about when the manu would darken the sky is helping today’s guardians monitor what appears to be a sharp decline.
“It’s really cool because we exchange data with pakeha organisations because we’re trying to understand the well being of our kuaka but at the end of the day our people always count. the second week of October is about teaching the next generation how we count, how we monitor when they come in,” Ms Waitai says.
She says the kuaka must now be protected and can no longer be a food source for the iwi.
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