All language subtitles for i.am.the.river.the.river.is.me.2024.1080p.web.h264-cbfm_track3_[eng]

(bird calls)

(bird calls)

(low rumbling)

(low rumbling loudens)

(distant flute melody)

(low rumble and flute louden)

(flute melody continues)

(paddling oars)

The river...

...is the biggest player
in who I am.

I feel that it is my job...

...to ensure that what I've been
given, I hand on to others.

(paddling oars, river current)

Greetings to you all!

Welcome to our visitors

from the land of the dreamtime!

Welcome to our sacred river!

Welcome to our sacred river!

Welcome to our sacred river!

Welcome to our sacred river!

Stand up in this meeting ground.

The meeting place
of our ancestors.

The meeting place
of our ancestors.

Let us acknowledge
all our loved ones.

Let us acknowledge
all our loved ones,

and our ancestors who have
passed away into the night.

And our ancestors who have
passed away into the night.

Let us acknowledge
your loved ones

and your ancestors who have
passed away into the night.

Welcome to our visitors to the
meeting place of our ancestors!

Welcome to our visitors to the
meeting place of our ancestors!

Welcome to our visitors to the
meeting place of our ancestors!

Do you need a cup, Jimmy?

No, you don't need a cup.

Do you need a cup?
- Yes.

It's full of dust,
you have to give it a rinse.

You need a cup.
- Thank you.

You need a cup.
-Thanks Ned. Beautiful, love it.

(tent poles hammering)

I think that's a hint
to sit down.

Get off, Jimmy.

Anyway, I'm going to do
what we call a 'ruruku'.

The 'ruruku' demands
notification from our ancestors

and from our 'atua', they are
guardians of specific realms,

that we call upon, to come and
enhance what we already have,

or help us, through any troubled
times that we may need.

OK?

Get off the table.

Come on.
This is for eating, not sitting.

Sit down. Okay.

Okay. 'Tena tatou'. (Let's go.)
Lets go.

Greetings to us all.

Let us draw on

the supreme sacredness...

...to clear, to free the heart,

the body and the
spirit of mankind.

Deeply, calmly.

Rongo, god of peace...

...suspended above us...

...bring us together.

(river gently lapping)

(atmospheric music)

(hushed Māori song)

(river gently lapping)

(chirping of insects)

(bird calls)

4:30 in the morning.

And we listen to the wake-up
of the forest.

(bird calls)

(forest sounds louden)

Being Māori,
from my perspective...

...why do we need to look after
Papatūānuku, or Earth Mother?

She's living.

(bird calls, insects chirping)

She's breathing.

(bird calls, insects chirping)

She is listening to us
right now.

(forest sounds continue)

Everything in this world, in our
eyes, has a force of life within

We call it 'mauri'.

An unseen force,

(low rumble)

But yet, it is a force
that you can feel.

(distant river rapids)

Our trip is about the river...

...being the focus.

About us as people,
coming together and bringing...

...people together from across
the other side of the world.

It's about saving rivers,
saving the planet.

(splashing water)

Never seen anything like this.

(forest sounds)

When we leave one place, we take

something from the 'ngahere'...
(forest)

...to our next landing.

We leave it there and grab
another one from that place.

So it gives us safe passage from
place to place, where we go.

It's really the river
that's doing the calling.

The river has always
been in charge

because it dictates when
this thing happens.

It all just fell into place.

Ned told us, when we came here
to make a short film:

I met this amazing artist
from Australia...

...and she wants to bring over
an elder from Australia.

We'd never met each other
until now.

I had heard about Whanganui

and I'd been living with a mob
back in Australia...

...who are 'Barkandji',
river people.

They taught me so much
about how we need to

protect our rivers and
how sick they were.

When I got that email from you

...and my name had
been passed on,

as someone that's
fighting for our river...

...I thought, this is fantastic,
I can't say no.

How amazing to get the chance
to speak with 'Iwi' (Maoris)

here, on such a special river.

And I said to Justine,
I'm so honored

and I would absolutely love to,

but I kind of acknowledge
that I'm not an elder.

And while I can speak
for what I know,

I don't speak for country and
rivers the way our elders do.

So I rang Dad and said,
Dad, you've got to come with me.

I had already known that you
had a father...

...who was an elder.

Do they realise
I'm standing right here?

I feel like
I'm in another place!

What I was saying was,

there's something much
bigger than all of us.

And we're just players in this
bigger play that's happening...

...which is our world.

And the rivers

are probably the genre.

The rivers are the genre
and we're all the actors...

...and there's a story.

(muffled quiet melody)

(melody continues)

Just the basics:

Bottom hand down at the 'kakau',

What we call 'kakau o te hoe'
(handle of the paddle).

And the top hand
is up, closed over it.

Just follow the person in front.

When we say,
"hands on paddles",

Then we need to put, just...

...some good bit of energy
behind our paddle,

so we can get our canoe up
and moving. Okay?

But as far as tipping over
upside down,

It hasn't happened yet!

It hasn't happened yet.

There's always a first
time, but not today.

We're going to do our 'ruruku'
(coordination)

to start our journey,
from today.

Let us enter without hindrance

into the space of
our beginnings,

into the space of our people,
into the space...

...of learning, into the
space of conversations...

...and into the long
and expansive space...

...of Ranginui our Sky Father.

United. We affirm.

Let's go, eh?

Cool.

Load up.

(hand splashes)

Bye, grandpa. Safe journey.

Bye, grandpa.

Waving out there.

See you, babe.

That feels even better.

To be on the water.

I can feel it all leaving me.
Can you?

Yeah. Every time.
- I can feel all the...

...all the toxins
and everything.

All the unhealthiness,
I can feel it all leaving me.

Are you alright there, bud?

Is he there?
- Yeah.

So, Brendan and Melissa, you can
paddle when you're ready.

(dog whines)

Jimmy.

(oars paddling)

(oars paddling)

So, we've just come out of
the Retaruke River...

...and we're now flowing into
the Whanganui River.

I feel like I'm home.

(low raspy sound)

(lapping water, muffled sounds)

From the mountains to the sea...

...I am the river
and the river is me.

We're indivisible,
we belong to each other.

(low breathy sound)

('pūkāea' long horn whistles)

(low horn whistle)

(low horn whistle)

(low horn whistle)

(low horn whistle)

(low horn whistle)

The connection that we
have with the mountains

is exactly the same as
we have with the river.

(quiet melody)

That spiritual connection
that you have with

what we call our
ancestors, our 'tūpuna'...

...which are the mountains
and the waters...

...and the land
that surrounds us.

(melting ice crackles)

(water dripping)

(flowing rivulets)

(water washing over rocks)

(flowing stream, muffled melody)

(beats rhythm with stones)

(waterfall, rhythm continues)

(waterfall, rhythm continues)

(waterfall, rhythm continues)

(onrush of water grows louder)

(loud popping noises)

(flowing river, pops continue)

Depending on
what part of the country,

of 'Aotearoa' you come from,
(New Zealand)

we all have a mountain
that we refer to,

we all have a river
that we refer to.

So, when we are speech-making,
or identifying ourselves,

it usually goes
something like this:

Ruapehu is my mountain,
Whanganui is my river,

Te Atihaunui-A-Paparangi
is my tribe,

Parikino is my
ancestral village,

Ngāti Tuera and Ngāti Hinearo
are my subtribes

My name is Reneti Tapa.

So, name my mountain,
name the river...

...name the tribal area,
and my subtribe as well.

We're going through
a bit of a rapid here,

so we'd better break off
and meet at the bottom.

See you, Jim.

Jamie.

Jimmy, you jumped ship.

Paddle, paddle, paddle,
paddle...

Paddle, paddle, paddle,
paddle...

(continues counting strokes)

(water crashing against boats)

(river flow eases)

(echoing water drops)

(echoing water drops fade)

(gentle flute melody)

(gentle flute melody)

(gentle flute melody)

Hook up.

Jimmy, come.
- No, stay, Jimmy.

How do you feel when you're
on your river, on your 'awa'?

I feel like me.

The jobs that we all lead,
a lot of pressure.

For us to be able
to come back here

and be on the 'awa',

That brings us right back,

it gives us what we call
our 'mauri' back.

That life force that we have,
that sometimes gets...

...what's the word, unbalanced.

This is where we come
to balance up.

So you'll notice,
when we come on the river,

Each day we're on the river,
we're getting stronger.

And by the end
of it, physically,

we're just - pumping it out!

Wired. Charged!
- Yeah, rewired.

Yeah, that's the one.

How are you?

Those canoes have outboards.

Oh yeah.
Yeah, we're modern Māori.

Suzuki and Mitsubishi.
Good brands.

We've got to get a bit
of steam up, people.

Alright, let's give it a whir.

(paddling accelerates)

We're moving now.

Go right side, Stu.

(current accelerates)

There goes the undies.

I just got drenched.

And rest.

How do you put this on?

All the way up.

No, that's the head.
- Is that the head?

Brendan, who's the blackfella
in my 'waka' (canoe)?

What did he say?

Who is the blackfella
in his 'waka'.

Canoe, canoe.

Inside we are black people, even
if now, due to colonisation...

...and all this, we may not be
dark-skinned anymore.

That doesn't really come
into our understanding

of what it means to
be a black person.

(gentle rainfall)

Very peaceful.
- Yes.

Peaceful.

What's the word for
peace in your language?

Peaceful?

We don't have a word
for peace because

peace is... that's a European...

- It's like a foreign concept.
- "Peace".

Our people were, for
a hundred thousand years, like,

In harmony.
- Always peace.

There's always peace...

(heavy rain)

(thunder crack)

(rain continues)

You just drenched me.
- You just had a shower.

(heavy rainfall)

The water's coming in now.

(dog whines)

I like the terminology,
"weatherwise, fine".

Fine.

It's always fine.
- Yeah, this is fine.

(boat slides over rocks)

There she is with water.

(boat slides over rocks)

Celebrated too soon.

This is where
non-verbal language

comes into play, big time.

Which way are you going?

Wherever our motor
is gonna take us.

Yeah, where our motor goes.

Just saying...

The city jail closed down.

I'm retiring from that place.
I've had enough.

Been there 28 years.

That's a lot.

This is a holiday for me.

Bigfoot, found the Bigfoot.

Look at the size of it.

There's Bigfoot,
we're just taking...

Oh my gosh, it's large.

But it doesn't bite.

(bird calls)

We're going to hit
this wall here, look.

Don't lean, don't lean.
Just stay seated, don't lean.

One thing I forgot to mention,

if we're going to hit,
don't lean, stay seated...

...rather than lift to one side,
and she'll flip over like that.

(plays flute melody)

(plays flute melody)

(flute melody)

(flute melody)

I've never seen that before.

They've got little
bits of clay on it.

That's why they're still there.

It's the water
splashing out like that.

Hits the top and splashes away.

The houses of the little people.

What have you noticed
has changed, though?

Obviously the health
of the water is better, right?

Oh, definitely.

What are you guys
doing now that's helping?

For example, the city area.

In our time growing up,
there was just raw sewage.

You flushed the toilet,
that's where it went.

All raw sewage
went into the river.

All commercial waste
went into the river.

The freezing works, when they
did their kills,

they went into the river.

Factories that
dyed their clothing,

all that went into the river.

So the health of the river
was not good.

(quiet, muffled flute melody)

Yet within a hundred years,

the Crown's actions
and inactions...

...disenfranchised the 'Iwi'
(Māori tribes)

from their relationship
with the river.

The Crown, for example, allowed

steamers to ply the river...

...resulting in the destruction
of fishing dams.

River gravel
was extracted and sold.

The Crown did not
properly engage or

involve Iwi in the
management of the river.

But the Iwi stood their ground
and fought and fought...

...so that
their calls for justice...

...were finally answered.

(flute melody, river current)

The legislation
recognises 'Te Awa Tupua'

as an indivisible
and living whole,

comprising the Whanganui River
from the mountains to the sea,

incorporating its tributaries,

and all its physical and
metaphysical elements.

(plays flute)

(water rushing)

It recognises Te Awa Tupua
as a legal person,

with all the
corresponding rights,

duties and responsibilities.

This really is
something very special...

...and it's already
gaining attention

both nationally
and internationally.

This is an agreement
between all of us...

...so don't start doing
things on your own,

otherwise we'll jump
up and down and react.

So nothing can happen.
Whitefellas can't do nothing.

No companies can't do nothing.

They've got to come back to you.
- Come back to us.

That's pretty powerful.

That's pretty powerful,

You're coming from strength.

Us as the guardians
who are looking after it,

like the councils,
the district councils,

...all of us who are
a part of that,

nothing happens until we're
all there and all happy.

And then we have
our two river speakers,

Our two members who
sit at the right hand...

...with the government on it.

They are probably the backstop
if anything goes through.

Now, the law is slowly
starting to find ways,

Clumsy, not perfect
by any means,

but slowly trying to find ways

to understand that core concept.

And for those 'Pākehā'...
(settlers)

...who might find it difficult
to understand...

...how we could give
legal status...

to an ecology,
to an environment,

I'd ask them to just consider
why it is, we have in our law...

...the right for corporations to
have legal status as a person?

We actually do have, in
'Pākehā' law, something similar.

A corporation isn't a thing.

It doesn't have a
separate identity...

...but it does have legal rights
like a legal person.

A corporation has
rights under the

Bill of Rights Act,
for goodness sake.

It's just a construction
in our own minds

about how the law
responds to an entity.

It is so much more important,

so much more important...

...that we give status,
for its own sake...

...to the very thing
that gives us life.

And in Whanganui,
that is our river.

A small step forward,
but a step nonetheless.

The Whanganui River
that rapidly descends

flowing and winding its way

to the ocean deep,

once the bathing waters
of our elders

who have now departed...

How long was
the negotiation period?

The negotiations started back
in my grandfather's time,

In the 1930s.

When we talked about the river,
we gave it everything.

We wrote songs about it,
we did 'haka'.

When we did come up to
the tribunals and the Crown...

...we talked with tears,
I suppose.

You originate at the headwaters
of Tongariro

a snowcapped mountain
from whence you came...

But that's all our river's got,
it's just...

...irrigation, pumps, pipes,
channels, dams, everywhere.

You haven't got it here.

(Ned calls out for the 'Haka')

(river current rushing)

The Māori world
is about guardianship.

And the non-Māori world
is about ownership.

Some people won't understand.

I mean, if that's yours,
then I own that.

But we see it as,
I don't own that.

With ownership you can
buy and sell tomorrow.

But with guardianship
you're there...

..for as long as you have to be.

I'm just the caretaker for a

period of time, while I'm here.

(sombre flute melody)

(flute melody continues)

(drone camera buzzing)

(flute melody, drone buzzing)

(drone buzzing continues)

(sombre melody continues)

(loud drone buzzing)

It was so quiet and peaceful
until somebody came along.

You did invite me.

(approaching drone buzz)

(tent pole hammering)

You know, it's catching on
around the world.

Not that we did
that for that reason,

but others are wanting
to do the same...

...which means if they can do
it, that's another river done,

and then another river
around the world.

And all of a sudden,
our rivers are going

to be looked at
completely differently.

And when we don't have
access to water...

...that's basically killing us.

It's killing our land,
killing our ancestral beings...

...killing our river,

which is the veins...

...and the creeks
are the arteries, and

the lakes, the lagoons,
are all the organs.

They're all the
body organs of our

ancestral, spiritual
being in the landscape.

Way up the top is
where you've got

the cotton industry.

They just pump all that water

out into their private land...

...where they've just
dug huge dams.

There's no river flowing down...

...so all those First
Nations communities

and farmers, they
have no water at all.

We'll put a claim in.

I don't know how, what court.
I'll get legal advice.

Where is there a legal avenue
that we can put a claim in...

...and say we want recognition?

It's the whole river.

If your whole river, your mobs
come together...

...and put their claim in
as one: massive power.

Worldwide as well.

2,000 kilometers
is your river, is it?

How many mobs?

There'd be up to
twenty tribes. Easy.

To have the
opportunity to be here

and to see it
like this, is like:

Yeah, we can do this
for our river.

I'll get more water.

So, what I have here is a
'kawakawa' (bittersweet) leaf.

'Kawakawa' is our 'rongoā', or
medicine...

...back in the day for Māori.

We like to mash it up
and then just use it as oil.

And we put it on our wounds
as well to help us.

Today we can use 'kawakawa'...

...as tea as well.

The longer you cook it for,
the stronger it is.

Uncle Ned was saying
it gets really peppery...

...so if you like it
to be more peppery

and spicy, let
it boil for longer.

Sounds like our old man weed.
- Yeah.

A lot bigger.
- Yeah, it's different.

Stop it, Petr.

For me as a river man...

I'm a river person.

I can read this river.

Not everything, but I can read
what I need to know.

I could survive
on a river like this here.

I'm a trial-and-error artist.
- Oh, yeah?

Yeah, because I've got
confidence and know...

...You know what I mean?
The end result.

So, I just...

I go rough.

Did you learn your
language from a young age

or when you became an adult?

When I became an adult.

We've been using, like,
Aboriginal English.

Are kids learning
your language again now?

Yeah, I've been teaching them.
I'm the language teacher.

I didn't know that.
- I'm reviving six languages.

It's hard when there's
only one person doing it.

As far as I know, I'm the only

Mutti Mutti speaker
in the world.

Semi-fluent Mutti Mutti speaker.

Some groups, particularly in the
south of eastern Australia...

...can only revive it
from books.

We're lucky. We've got audio.
We've got the speaker.

Luise Hercus?

Luckily, she found one of our
last speakers of Mutti Mutti.

And then she came to...

...record my mother and

grandmothers and
aunties and that...

...and they said no, because...

...if it's known
that they're still

speaking language
down in the camp life...

...then the kids...

We've already had kids taken.

They'd put you in jail
or take your kids away.

Yeah, or stop your rations.

Disgusting.

Very cruel people.
Very, very cruel.

I don't think we realise
how cruel the colonial...

That's why, when we do
meet friends...

...we know. We can tell
who our friends are.

Because since we were little...

...we've seen it
in the eyes of the oppressor...

...how much they don't like us.

How much they hate us.

So now we're able
to quite easily see,

identify our friends,
which is quite a...

Alright, what'll I do here?

That eagle is brown.

When I taught language,

do you think I was just
teaching language?

No, I was teaching everything.

About the land, the animals,
the culture...

...the ancestral stories,
everything.

You were teaching non-Aboriginal
kids and Aboriginal kids?

Yeah, of course.

(oars clatter, beating rhythm)

grandfather cut bark
from the river red gum trees,

They used a stick to paddle the
canoe far across the water,

they float along the river
and the lakes,

great-grandmother and
great-grandfather in canoes...

The non-Aboriginal
kids were so fascinated,

excited and they
loved the culture.

Some kids were saying,
I wish I was Aboriginal too.

(river crashing loudly)

Who's the lovely lady?

Come closer,
you'll find out, dear.

He's got a boomerang skim.

This is like the Olympics.

Your wood's really hard.

Must have made strong weapons.
- Native wood.

That's hardwood.

All the way along the river,
we'll have all these trees...

...and the roots
are all sticking out

and they all go that shape.

So there's your
boomerangs and there's

your big long fighting
boomerangs, all the clubs.

And the wood is
that dense because

it's the root. It's so dense.

We just wait
for the tree to fall over.

When we come down,
this young fella was

out looking for what
we call a 'huri rākau'.

A 'rākau' is a stick
and a 'huri' is a twist.

You get a natural twist in it.

So he goes out looking for them
and he's found a couple.

Probably be ready
in a couple of years time maybe.

They're sitting in the bush.
He knows where they are now.

The way I see it is,
they call out to you.

They call out to you saying,
I'm over here.

Exactly that.

A lot of your tribal marks are

your identity,
of who you are from.

And usually they have, like,

down the left side
is my father's...

...and the right
side is my mother's.

They're not symmetrical.

You think, 'tā moko' (tattoo)
is nice and symmetrical?

They shouldn't be, because
they tell a different story.

This fella's getting done soon.

His 'Mataora' (rapture),
the face markings.

They both go, he's got his,
he's getting his.

And they're both
looking at me...

Yeah, we got a bird...

...that's telling us
someone's going to pass.

That's passing.

Same as ours.
- You got one of them?

The cultures
are quite similar, eh?

The similarities I've heard,
over the last two days, is...

...I'm like, fuckin' hell, man!

You know, I thought there'd be
lots of things different.

Differences.

But it's the opposite.

There's lots of things
the same,

more than there is different,
if that makes sense.

(river current, rain falls)

(quiet atmospheric music)

(rainfall intensifies)

(low chanting voices)

(distant, raspy flute melody)

(insect chitter grows)

(flute melody continues)

(music fade, forest noise grows)

(percussion echoes softly)

Give him something.
- Shut up, pal.

How could you eat
in front of him? Look at him.

"Feed me!"

Yeah, bro.
Yeah, right.

Even when I was a kid,
when I was little.

I was born in 68, we're
talking the early 70s,

they'd still come and get us.

My mum was black, dad was white.

My mum had five sisters.

One of the sisters,

they just took all six kids.

The youngest was a baby, one,
and the oldest was about twelve.

Yeah. But it happened here too?
- Yeah.

A lot of them are the ones
that we have in our gangs now.

They carry the trauma
from previous years.

When I was a bit
younger, a few years ago,

I started getting into trouble.

Like, I wanted
to be cool like them.

I used to see them as cool.
Big, scary dudes.

So, I started getting
into trouble,

into a lot of fights.

And then one day I woke up.

Ned pulled me aside and he said,
'Mate, are you okay?'

I said, "No, no, I'm not.
I'm in a bad way."

He just quietly talked away...

...and just helped me.

From then on, wanting to be...

...like the big bad guys,
just went away.

I wanted to be
a guy that somebody...

...can come to
if they needed help.

Your young fella there, I've got
a fella at home just like him.

-Yeah.
He's my right hand man.

I've had him since birth.

One of our old ways is
the first-born child

from your eldest
daughter or son.

They give you their first child.

She said: here's
your Christmas present

for the next hundred years.

Here you are.

In other people's
ways, I suppose

that would seem strange...

...giving your child away,
your first-born child.

But because we still
live close together...

...the birth mother
and birth father...

... are maybe
in the next house.

But as far as handing on
traditional values,

that's who we start with.

Have a good day.

(fast-flowing current)

(distant bird call)

The water tastes good, brother?
- Yeah.

Up there?
- Yeah, very good.

Everything that falls
into the 'awa' brings

a journey of life,
regardless of what it is.

I love that idea that
if you take something,

you give something back.

What if you don't have anything
to put back in?

It's not always
a physical thing.

It could be a 'ruruku' (ritual)
or acknowledgment to the place.

People say, how do you do that?

I say, you give it your essence,
your 'mauri' (core).

My 'mauri', my life essence,
I give to the river.

(oars paddle gently)

(gentle atmospheric music)

(muffled paddling)

A 'hoe' (paddle), to me,
is inscribed with values.

Like, carved into it.

(muffled paddling continues)

You can't see them, of course.

I believe that each time
I paddle in the river,

I am bathing them...

...in the water.

(strong paddling)

And each time I hold them up,

I'm holding them up
for the world to see.

(quiet atmospheric music swells)

(current accelerates)

Look at Petr, all squished up.
- He's warm, Jimmy's warm.

Hey Jimmy, we've
got plenty of room.

I'm gonna take a photo.

Ah, Jimmy...

Yeah, baby!

(flute plays gentle melody)

(gentle melody continues)

(gentle melody continues)

(gentle melody)

(gentle melody)

(bullroarer accelerates)

Let me say this,
so you remember:

I can feel the river behind me.

It's hard to
explain the feeling,

but I can feel the
river behind me.

It's the same as when I'm
walking through my country...

...I can feel my ancestors
behind me.

Like a strength behind me.

'Wungerwil pathaima',
a strong feeling.

Strong, that's what
the 'awa' there is.

That's what it is,
a strong feeling.

It's not there.

It's there.

(wistful flute melody)

(wistful melody)

(wistful melody)

(thundering outboard engine)

(engine noise recedes)

(cane resonates)

(dog whimpers)

When we think of how...

...the way our Aboriginal people
are treated in Australia...

...by the Australian
government...

...and the...

Oh, there they go. Look at that.

(outboard engine roars past)

But, um...

You know, there's a back story.

There's hidden
secrets, hidden history

that they don't
want to be known.

Not even within
the country itself...

...to its own citizens.

Another one.

(loud outboard motor approaches)

(whooping and cheering)

The colonisers
came to the rivers

and looked to
take over the rivers.

And that's where our people
were living, on the rivers.

And that's where the conflict,

the massacres and the
conflict and the wars...

...the Australian wars,
the first wars that Australia...

In Australia,
it's the 'Australian Wars'.

The frontier wars,
as we call them.

And one such
example is when they would

get the babies - the colonisers.

The settlers would
get the Aboriginal babies...

...and dig holes
in the ground...

...and bury them
babies in the ground...

...with their heads sticking out
and they would...

...ride on their horsebacks
with their rifles...

...and knock
the babies' heads off...

..with the butt of their rifles.

(rising wind)

So every opportunity
that I get...

...I'll tell the truth.
Truth telling.

(wind blows hard)

(wind strengthens)

(wind blows hard)

(wind blows angrily)

(wind blows furiously)

(wind noise recedes)

(river gently lapping)

(plays gentle melody)

(melody continues)

(melody continues)

(river runs, melody continues)

(gentle river current)

Have you had your
portrait done before?

No.

Never sat still enough.

(pencil scribbling)

I've got a friend who does
'tā moko', (tattooing)

tribal drawings on the skin.

He's the one that has done me
from my feet, right up...

...my backside up my back,
and the last part of it...

...was to do my face.

Even in the late, early 1800s,
'tā moko' started to disappear,

because that was the
time when heads were

taken for trophies
and sent overseas.

So they could be used as a piece
on somebody's mantelpiece.

I wouldn't put one
on either, because

that's what would
happen back in those days.

And then it went through
a process of,

a lot of our men
then started to wear it,

but they were the ones that were
in the justice system...

...so that was their way
of saying to the Crown...

...to go get lost!

So they started to wear
the homemade one, I suppose.

But it still told
a story of their lives.

But then it got taken
into the gang culture

where it was used
to frighten people.

To make you look
the meanest of the mean...

...so you could frighten people,
threaten people with it.

But that was never ever
what 'tā moko' was all about.

Can you make my nose straight?

The 70s wasn't
a very nice time...

...for us.

We'd go into a shop
to buy something

and then we'd get
told to wait outside.

Until all the customers
had left,

and then we'd go inside...

...and we'd get followed around
the shop by the shopkeeper.

Because we were going
to steal something.

If you knew my father,
you'd steal nothing.

But again, it wasn't very nice.

But my father was
a very strong person.

He made sure we
just carried on with life.

He came back from
the Second World War.

A returned serviceman
in the 28th Māori Battalion.

He ensured that
we didn't have a military life.

But we were honest.

And we'd keep to our word.

And then as we got older,
we'd go to college.

And then you had to learn French
and learn Latin as a language.

And here we are, Māori,

if we wanted to learn
our own language...

...we had to do it at lunchtime,
during playtime or break time.

So again, it was another shock.

But thankfully,
we were still able to talk...

...because Dad would talk
and Mum would talk...

...in 'Te Reo',
in our language.

Jimmy.

Leave it.

(sighs)

Tying my knot.

Can't leave you at home, eh?

No, you'd better not,
you'd get into trouble.

Check, check.
- Check.

Sound check.

OK I'm a corrections officer,

been in the corrections
department for 28 years.

I went straight into
high security.

It nearly broke me
when I was in there.

Only because I could see what
was coming in,

and I knew them.

It's like they're
ten times around,

they just
keep coming back.

I'd talk to them...

...trying to see
what the problem was.

It's not even my job.

But, yeah...

So I'm there to help.

I was like a wire ready to snap.

I mean, every day in high
security, I was at war.

I was on, like,
war party all the time.

It's not nice in there.

(bird calls)

I really don't like
talking about it.

My wife doesn't even
know what it's like.

She just sees a change in me
and doesn't say anything.

'What happened?' She'll go.
And I'll go, oh nothing.

I can't really talk about it.

I could have had about four
or five scraps in one day.

Just with prisoners.

When I go home
I just want to sleep.

(river flowing gently)

When somebody's not quite
well, not quite right,

we call that a 'mamae'.
(pain)

It's a bit of a burden or
a load, carrying a load.

That's for sure.

Ned, you said Stu's
not a talker.

I'm not really.
- I'm wrong.

We're in the right place.
- Yeah.

Honestly, we're in the right
place, at the right time.

That's why I bring them
on these things here.

We look after each other.

That's why we
feel young all the time.

Not even!

Until you wake up in the morning

in your tent and you go like...

(makes struggling noises)

Errrr! Hey, Jimmy!

(dog barks)

(blows on fire)

(blows on fire)

There's a very popular TV series
in Norway...

...and all it is about is what's

the best way to light a fire.

A whole series?

Slow learners!

What do you have,
slow burning matches?

It started with one
broadcast, 24 hours.

And they were only talking
about wood.

From the tree to when it was
sawn, to when it was cut...

...and how you should stack it,
and how it would dry.

And it was the whole day,
the whole night,

and everybody was watching.

All of Norway. It was the
most popular show ever.

And now you got
no trees in Norway.

Just saying!

So be careful, because
he's here now.

It's a take-over.
They really want our trees!

You can have all the pine trees.

Yeah, you can
have all the pine trees.

(bird calls)

Amazing. What an amazing bird.

You'll hear them.

What bird is that?
- Kererū. (pigeon)

Brought some friends here, look.
- Yeah, sure.

Come over and join us.

Sorry we're crashing
your film shoot.

Connor.

Sophie.

Welcome to 'Te Awa', to
'Whanganui' (gulf).

The woven waters...

...is what's coming to my mind,
is how...

...another brother
from another mother,

talking about land,

has come over to take
something from this river...

...so they can start the journey
on their river

about personhood,

giving their waters the same
legal rights,

Western world rights, I suppose,

so they can start the journey
of looking after their river.

So, I just want to welcome you
all, from wherever you are.

We've got many nations
here tonight.

We, the Māori.

You, the Tati Tati.

And you, the Canadian.

'It's the United Nations here.'
- Is it? Oh, well.

Let's go around
the circle and say

who we are and where we're from,
then we'll know for sure!

Good day I'm Sef, I'm from...

... the southern part of
Germany, called Bavaria.

The river where I was raised
was called the Lech...

...and it goes into the Danube,
into the Black Sea.

I'm Riikka, I'm from Finland,
the country of a thousand lakes.

And the water I'm next to is

Lohjanjärvi, which
is the Lohja lake.

I thank you for this
opportunity, this is amazing.

I'm very thankful
for this moment.

Hi, my name is Ivan,
I'm from France.

I'm glad to be with you all.

And something
I learned on trail is:

Face to face.

Man to man.

It really marked me.
It means, we're all different,

but we're all equals.

And if we continue
to act like this,

we will build
a better world.

Flow, my ancestral river

from the mountain
in the domains of Tangaroa...

We've come a long way, we've
still got a long way to go.

You've got a long way to go,
but each step you take...

...we've got a saying in our
language:'Iti nei, iti nei.'

'Piece by piece',
it will happen.

You have rivers and lakes
and seas in your own country.

Go home and
look after your water.

So, fight hard for
that, for yourself,

for your families,
for your children.

(Maori song continues)

(buzzing drone)

(tense, quiet flute music)

It's funny. Whenever I'm coming
out of one of these voyages...

(forest sounds, river flow)

...I start to dread the moment
where we return to reality.

When you get phone reception
and your phone starts beeping...

...and the emails
start flooding in...

...and slowly you move away...

... from this really
special, natural...

...simple life...

...into this very dense,
noisy and complex reality.

(quiet, tense flute melody)

(flute melody loudens)

(electronic pinging)

Since I met all of you,

I wish we had a similar
project in Quebec...

...on a river that
is very important to me,

the Petit-Mécatina river.

It's one of the next
rivers that will be

swept away by a
hydroelectric project.

It could be a way
to come together

to see what's more important:

Produce ever more
electricity or...

...find a shared space in nature

before it's too late

and there are
no more rivers like this.

See you later, yeah?
- See you later!

Have a good day, brother.

Brother from another father.

(gentle river flow)

We have so much to learn
from indigenous cultures...

...who have lived on the land
for an eternity.

And it's that information
that we need,

that is going to save us.
Nothing else can, really.

I think what we need is more

non-indigenous people
becoming advocates.

Because especially in Australia,
we're outnumbered.

We're only 3 percent
of the population.

I do see a shift
in my generation

and younger people my age,

that non-indigenous people are

starting to see the connections.

(steady paddling)

Especially because of

the environmental issues that
we're all starting to face.

So I think there is
a slight shift.

(fast-flowing current)

But I think we can't just expect
First Nations people

to be the ones leading the front

every single time,
all of the time,

because it really wears us out.

Keep going.

(fast flowing river)

(distant voices over PA)

But really, we
need other people,

we need non-indigenous people...

...to be the advocates for us
and with us.

(tense singing in Maori)

(rhythmic popping sounds)

But we talk about:

'We have to turn to
First Nations people...

...because they are
going to save us."

But what about all them?

(bird calls, animal noises)

What about...
They're trying to tell us.

All the birds, all the
animals, all the fish,

every living thing
is trying to tell us.

Let's go to them.

(bird calls, insects chirping)

(water laps gently)

(bird calls louden)

(gentle breeze, calm river flow)

(bird calls)

(mimics bird call)

(bird replies)

(mimics bird call, louder)

(bird replies, louder)

(mimics bird call)

(louder bird calls)

(mimics bird call)

(mimics bird call)

(bird replies)

(different bird calls)

Greetings, old people.

(different bird calls)

(insistent bird call)

(wings flutter)

(rustling wings)

(bird calls)

If you sit and listen...

...you'll hear
the country singing.

All together.

(growing insect buzz)

Intertwined.
In harmony, in sync.

(fast water flow)

(stones scraping together)

(stones scraping together)

(scraping sound starts fading)

(eerie, muffled rippling chime)

(eerie chime continues)

(chime continues, lapping water)

(lapping water)

(chime gradually fades)

It's like our weaving and how
each individual strand...

...yes, it might be an
individual strand...

...of that one
particular reed...

...but it's weaved together
with all these...

other different elements,
to create...

...what it is
that we're weaving.

(insects buzzing)

And that's the same as...

...country, and people...

...and plants, and animals,
and water.

Everything represents...

...one small,
tiny little piece...

...in this larger weave.

Everything intertwined,
that bird up there...

...and that little thing there
in the grass making noise...

...that has its whole
dreaming story, creation story.

(buzzing bees)

And it relates.

(buzzing bees, bird calls)

We call that in our country
the songlines.

And that's what we
hear on country,

we hear the songlines
that come together.

And it's like an orchestra.

(water flowing, animal sounds)

It might be silent.

It might be the wind
or the water.

(lapping water)

(insect stepping on plants)

(waterfall rush)

Just go to your river
and listen to your river.

This is not goodbye.

It's just the start.

Yes...

(eerie flute melody)

(distant crashing surf)

(sea birds call)

(long horn sounds)

(long horn keeps sounding)

(distant music, horn and voice)