Nearly a decade after Te Awa o Whanganui became the first river in the world to be recognised as a legal person, an international researcher has travelled to Aotearoa to examine what the landmark legislation has meant for the river, its people and the future of Indigenous rights around the world.
Raffaele Sindoni, a PhD candidate at the Yale School of the Environment, spent five months living in Whanganui while researching the long-term impact of the Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act 2017.
The legislation, widely regarded as one of the most significant legal recognitions of Indigenous worldviews in modern history, acknowledges Te Awa Tupua as “an indivisible and living whole”, recognising the river as a legal person with its own rights and interests.
The Act reflects the long-held whakataukī of Whanganui iwi: “Ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au” – I am the river and the river is me.
Learning Alongside the River
During his time in Whanganui, Sindoni immersed himself in local life, spending much of his research period at Te Ao Hou Marae, home to Ngāti Tupoho of Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi.
Beyond formal interviews, his fieldwork involved learning alongside kaumātua, kaiārahi and rangatahi, sharing music, listening to stories and gaining a deeper understanding of the relationship between the people and the awa.
As both a researcher and folk musician, Sindoni says being part of everyday community life was essential to understanding the significance of Te Awa Tupua beyond the legislation itself.
Looking Beyond the Law
Sindoni’s research examines how the Act has functioned nearly ten years after its passage and whether recognising a river as a legal person has changed relationships between people, government and the natural environment.
His work explores where the legislation has created meaningful change, where challenges remain and how Indigenous worldviews are translated into a Western legal framework.
While legal personhood has inspired similar initiatives around the world, Sindoni says important questions remain about whether Indigenous concepts can ever be fully expressed through state legal systems.
His research considers how Western legal traditions, which have historically viewed land as property and rivers as resources, interact with Māori understandings of whakapapa, interconnection and reciprocal responsibility.
A Global Influence
Since Parliament passed the Te Awa Tupua Act in 2017, the Whanganui River settlement has attracted worldwide attention.
The legislation has influenced legal discussions in countries exploring similar recognition for rivers, forests and mountains, contributing to the growing international “rights of nature” movement.
For many Indigenous peoples, the Act represents more than environmental protection—it recognises ancestral relationships with the natural world that have existed for generations.
Sindoni says those conversations are becoming increasingly important as countries confront climate change, environmental degradation, decolonisation and Indigenous sovereignty.
Listening Across Communities
During his fieldwork, Sindoni interviewed around 40 people representing a wide range of perspectives.
Participants included leaders from Whanganui hapū, farmers, representatives of organisations established under the settlement, iwi settlement entities, Members of Parliament, district and regional councillors, environmental lawyers and forestry representatives.
He says hearing diverse perspectives has helped build a richer understanding of both the achievements and ongoing challenges associated with implementing the legislation.
Rather than focusing solely on legal theory, the research examines how Te Awa Tupua operates in practice across governance, environmental management and everyday relationships with the river.
Looking to the Future
Now back in the United States, Sindoni is transcribing interviews and preparing a book exploring his findings.
He believes the lessons emerging from Whanganui will contribute to international debates about Indigenous rights, environmental governance and how legal systems can better recognise relationships between people and the natural world.
For Whanganui iwi, however, Te Awa Tupua has always represented more than an innovative legal concept.
The legislation reflects generations of advocacy to have the river recognised not simply as a natural resource, but as a living ancestor whose health and wellbeing are inseparable from the people who have cared for it for centuries.
As countries around the world continue searching for new approaches to environmental protection, the experience of Te Awa o Whanganui remains one of the most influential examples of how Indigenous knowledge and legal systems can reshape conversations about people, place and the future of the planet.
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