Te Urewera: The Living Ancestor of Tūhoe People
By Tatsiana Chypsanava, Pulitzer Center & New Zealand Geographic | Finalist – World Press Photo 2025 Long-Term Projects
In the dense, mist-cloaked forests of New Zealand’s North Island, the land of Te Urewera breathes with stories older than any nation-state. For the Tūhoe people, this place is not just territory. It is a living ancestor — a source of identity, law, nourishment, and spirituality. That deep connection is at the heart of a long-term photo documentary by Tatsiana Chypsanava, recently recognized as a finalist in the 2025 World Press Photo competition.
Over the course of several years, Chypsanava immersed herself in the valleys and villages of Ruatoki, Tāneatua, and Maungapōhatu, chronicling the evolving relationship between the Tūhoe and their ancestral lands. The series, titled Te Urewera – The Living Ancestor of Tūhoe People, is a visual testament to cultural resilience, generational knowledge, and a revolutionary approach to land stewardship.
“An Apology, Etched in Ink” © Tatsiana Chypsanava, Pulitzer Center, New Zealand Geographic — used with permission World Press Photo. Tāme Iti, a revered Tūhoe activist, stands adorned with his traditional moko (facial tattoo) during the 2014 Tūhoe-Crown Settlement Day in Tāneatua. The ceremony marked the government’s formal apology for historic injustices — an event generations in the making. Tāneatua, 22 August 2014.
A Radical Recognition: Te Urewera as Legal Personhood
Te Urewera was once a national park. But in 2014, through a landmark agreement between the Ngāi Tūhoe and the New Zealand Crown, the park was dissolved as a state entity. In its place emerged Te Urewera as a legal person — a world-first approach acknowledging the land’s intrinsic value beyond human ownership. It marked the culmination of decades of Tūhoe activism and negotiation, part of a broader settlement under the framework of the Treaty of Waitangi.
The Treaty of Waitangi, signed in 1840, is New Zealand’s founding document, meant to establish a partnership between the British Crown and Māori iwi (tribes). For Tūhoe, who never signed the treaty and suffered land confiscations, military invasions, and surveillance, the 2014 settlement was an overdue act of recognition — not just of past wrongs, but of a right to self-govern their whenua (land) by Māori principles.
“Horses of the Highlands” © Tatsiana Chypsanava, Pulitzer Center, New Zealand Geographic — used with permission World Press Photo. Wild horses roam through the rugged bush of Maungapōhatu, where they remain essential companions in a landscape that resists modern convenience. Maungapōhatu, 21 April 2024.
“The Living Archive” © Tatsiana Chypsanava, Pulitzer Center, New Zealand Geographic — used with permission World Press Photo. Ruiha Te Tana (12) leans into a quiet afternoon in her grandfather’s homestead — a house built in 1916 by her ancestor, still standing as a living repository of Tūhoe whakapapa (genealogy). Ruatoki, 26 January 2022.
A People, a Place, a Legacy in Images
Chypsanava’s photographs reveal daily life through the lens of cultural continuity and political transformation. They capture both the quiet moments of rural life and the monumental shifts in how identity and land are expressed.
“Whāngai Whānau” © Tatsiana Chypsanava, Pulitzer Center, New Zealand Geographic — used with permission World Press Photo. Carol Teepa, a matriarch who has adopted over 20 children according to whāngai, the Māori customary adoption practice, sits with her son Wanea and grandchild Mia, anchoring generations around the kitchen table. Ruatoki, 2 September 2017.
“Haka and Heritage” © Tatsiana Chypsanava, Pulitzer Center, New Zealand Geographic — used with permission World Press Photo. Mihiata Teepa (16) and her teammates from the Tūhoe Māori Rugby League U16 team perform a haka during training, infusing sport with tradition and pride. Rotorua, 12 January 2025.
“Driving Tradition Forward” © Tatsiana Chypsanava, Pulitzer Center, New Zealand Geographic — used with permission World Press Photo. Children from the Teepa family drive younger siblings home after a swim in the river — a moment of joy rooted in the Tūhoe ethos of teaching independence and collective care from an early age. Ruatoki, 27 January 2022.
“Future on the Farm” © Tatsiana Chypsanava, Pulitzer Center, New Zealand Geographic — used with permission World Press Photo. Apprentices at Tataiwhetu Trust, a Tūhoe-run organic dairy farm, learn hands-on agricultural skills. Run by six families, the trust is a model of self-determination, sustainability, and cultural revival. Ruatoki, 14 January 2022.
“A Watermelon Summer” © Tatsiana Chypsanava, Pulitzer Center, New Zealand Geographic — used with permission World Press Photo. A summer afternoon turns festive as Teepa whānau share a watermelon — one of many moments that reinforce manaakitanga (hospitality) and whanaungatanga (family connection). Ruatoki, 27 January 2022.
Preserving Progress Amid Political Change
While the 2014 agreement between Tūhoe and the Crown was hailed as a model of indigenous partnership, recent political shifts threaten that momentum. New Zealand’s current right-leaning government has proposed changes seen as regressive by many Māori leaders, potentially undermining co-governance arrangements and environmental protections.
Yet in places like the Tataiwhetu Trust, a new generation is holding the line — farming sustainably, speaking te reo Māori, and living according to tikanga (customary law). These are the living expressions of sovereignty not just claimed, but practiced.
Chypsanava’s work is more than reportage — it is a long-form meditation on what it means to belong to land, and to each other.
See the Exhibition
Te Urewera – The Living Ancestor of Tūhoe People will be featured in the World Press Photo 2025 Global Exhibition, touring more than 60 cities around the world, including Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, London, Sydney, Jakarta, and Montreal.
For dates and locations, visit: 👉 www.worldpressphoto.org and our story: 2025 World Press Photo Contest Winners & Finalists
World Press Photo Yearbook 2025 – available from our affiliate, Amazon
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