Na wai te wai: Who owns the water? The dominant Maori news story for the last wee while has of course been the issue around Water. Is there really an issue, are Maori being silly or even worse selfish? RevChris shares his thoughts: Tauranga Moana -- Toku Wai Like many New Zealanders, I grew up near the water. From fishing, to making rafts out of inner tubes and floating down the river, to Waka Ama and doing bombs off the wharf, the water was an almost constant part of my upbringing and like many New Zealanders I never really gave a second thought to my being able to enjoy the water, my access to the water or indeed to ownership of the water. Of course, I knew that the water I was playing in held special significance to Ngati Wheke and that they exercised kaitiakitanga over Rapaki, but I never equated that kaitiakitanga to mean ownership. I find myself in a similar situation now as I hear the continued debate around water rights and who, if anyone owns it. This debate conjures up images and memories of the Seabed and Foreshore legislation and discussion. Once again, Maori are being painted as if the only reason why we want official recognition in relation to water is to block everyone else's use of it and to economically exploit it as an asset. As in the Seabed and Foreshore debate, already right wing leaning politicians and New Zealanders generally are using this debate