Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
area prepared a report outlining its potential impacts on cultural resources.
Included in the report was a discussion of wind in the context of the groups'
long-held beliefs. 82 According to the report:
The wind has been used for recreation. The game with respect to wind is
manuaute , kite flying. While this is something that can happen all year
round, Maori kite flying has been the focus of Matariki. The Maori
New Year was an opportunity to remember the past and celebrate the
future by enjoying games like kite flying. When Whatonga arrived in
this new land he studied the skies and the winds and as he played with
the manuaute he realised the power of the wind … The wind is a source
of power that has allowed tipuna to establish our people in this land. 83
The report further declared that any “[p]ermanent change of the landscape
as a consequence of constructing wind farms is for Maori a loss of
mana . 84 In the Maori language, mana means “status, esteem, prestige or
authority.” 85
In spite of these arguments, it appears that the New Zealand government
will not recognize any proprietary interest in the wind in favor of the Maori
people. Consistent with this position, the Castle Hill Wind Farm received
its resource consents from the New Zealand government in mid-2013. 86
The Maori people will undoubtedly continue to worship the wind, but their
attempts to leverage that reverence into an economic interest ultimately
proved unsuccessful.
Opportunities for collaboration
Despite the various clashes that have arisen between renewable energy
developers and indigenous peoples in recent years, there is reason to
believe that mutually beneficial partnerships are possible between these two
groups. Given the vast quantity of developable renewable energy sites on
tribal lands and tribal values centered on sustainability, there are plenty of
reasons to improve their partnership. Renewable energy development on
or near reservations has the potential to improve the lives of millions of
indigenous individuals and to make a significant contribution toward the
greening of the global energy economy. As coal-fired power plants on or
near reservation lands are decommissioned in the decades to come, trans-
mission capacity capable of delivering renewable energy from Indian trust
lands to major population centers could become more available to tribes in
some areas.
However, renewable energy growth on and near reservation lands will
only become a reality if policymakers place a greater focus on encouraging
cooperation between renewable energy interests and tribal interests. What,
if anything, can policymakers do to improve the current state of relations
between tribes, developers, and governments?
 
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