A New Zealand mountain is granted personhood, recognizing it as sacred for Māori

A mountain in New Zealand considered an ancestor by Indigenous people has been recognized as a legal person after a new law granted it all the rights and responsibilities of a human being. Mount Taranaki — now known as Taranaki Maunga, its Māori name — is the latest natural feature to be granted personhood in New Zealand, which has ruled that a river and a stretch of sacred land are people before. The law fulfils a 2023 settlement between the government and Māori which provided redress for land theft and other British Crown breaches of New Zealand’s founding treaty during colonization. The pristine, snow-capped dormant volcano is the second highest on New Zealand’s North Island.