Te Ao Māori News understands Treaty Negotiations Minister has proposed a single commercial settlement with smaller cultural settlements as a Treaty settlement for Ngāpuhi.
Paul Goldsmith met Ngāpuhi leaders for the first time on Wednesday at Whitiora (Te Tii) Marae, where behind closed doors it is claimed that Goldsmith laid out a roadmap for Aotearoa’s largest tribe of 184,470 people.
Ngāpuhi leaders though have been firm in their stance and have told Te Ao Māori News that they will not accept any settlement until the Crown acknowledges that Ngāpuhi never ceded sovereignty.
Invited by Te Kotahitanga o ngā Hapū Ngāpuhi - a confederation of Ngāpuhi hapū which represent 110 subtribes of Ngāpuhi, Goldsmith joined the packed marae of about 200 attendees, hosted by Ngāti Rēhia. And hapū leaders wasted no time to let the Minister know how they felt.
“You’re walking into the lion’s den, we’ve been waiting for our opportunity to speak to you,” one leader said.
Another leader said “kei te karo atu i tērā kōrero mō te whakataunga kereme. Nō reira e ai ki tēnei, e kore rawa mātou e whakaae ki tētahi whakaritenga pure tuku, ka takahia ka tū whakakāhoretia te rangatiratanga o ngā hapū.”
(“We are going through this without limitations for any full and final settlements. So with that in mind, we will not agree to any arrangements that will compromise our tino rangatiratanga and sovereignty.”)
But the display also came without Ngāpuhi’s own in-house squabbles.
Some hapū members are dissatisfied with the proposed model under Te Kotahitanga o ngā Hapū Ngāpuhi, where Ngāpuhi boundary lines are broken down into seven taiwhenua, or natural hapū groupings; Hokianga, Whangaroa, Whangārei, Waimate/Taiamai ki Kaikohe, Ngā hapū o te Takutai Moana, Mahurangi, and Mangakāhia.
A range of hapū leaders said in protest “As a great, great, great mokopuna of Te Tiriti signatory and He Whakaputanga (Declaration of Independence), we will not be takahi (trampled on) our hapū of Ngāti Korokoro and we are not for the taiwhenua.”
Another leader said while looking directly at Goldsmith, “As you got to see firsthand the clear splits that we have to deal with daily.”
Only one objective for Ngāpuhi.
For Ngāti Hine leader Waihoroi Shortland there is only one objective. “Ko taku whai e rongo kei hea nga whakaaro o te kawana mō Ngapuhi.”
(”My objective is to hear what the Crown’s position on Ngāpuhi is”).
Herbie Rīhari of Ngāti Torehina ki Matakā says “he uaua te huarahi nā te rerekētanga o tēnei, o tēnā o tēnā tangata, o tēnā hapū ki ētahi.”
(”It’s hard to see the path with the many changes of this, of that, of this person, of the subtribe to everyone else.”)
Shortland says “Ko te hiahia kia mārama ia, kahore ngā hapū o tēnei rohe, i te hiahia kia tohutohua a rātou e te Karauna i runga i ngā hiahia o te Karauna. Mēnā e hiahia o te Karauna, ko reira tātou e whiriwhiri ai i te mea e rite ana e tika ana mō mātou. Ehara te painga ō ēnei mahi mō te Karauna te pai, ko te pai kē, ko te iwi o roto o Ngāpuhi.”
(”We want him to clearly understand, that the hapū of this region do not want to be dictated by the Crown and to their demands. If it’s the Crown’s wish to allow us to choose because it sits right and rings true for us. This exercise is not for the Crown’s benefit, instead, it’s to benefit the subtribes of Ngāpuhi.”)
The Chairperson of Te Kotahitanga o ngā Hapū Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Hine leader Pita Tipene, took the liberty to inform the Treaty Minister of the history of the confederation of Ngāpuhi hapū. Beginning with the origins of the group and why they were established, which was to oppose the Tūhoronuku Mandate led by Sonny Tau, a board created and later rejected to represent the Northland iwi through the settlement process. Tipene said, “We don’t want to plunge ourselves into another 10 years of civil war.” He then referred to the hapū of Ngāpuhi now looking to the future to find a positive way forward, rather than fighting among themselves.
Tipene also made particular reference to the various policies attacking Māori from the current coalition government, highlighting the recent statement made by the prime minister who said that Māori ceded sovereignty. Locking eyes with Goldsmith, Tipene said, “We uphold your case because Ngāpuhi never ceded sovereignty on the 6th of February 1840.” Tipene however, laid down the wero - the challenge for Goldsmith, where previous Treaty Ministers have struggled to settle with the Northern tribe.
Talking to the media, Goldsmith said, “Many ministers have come in the past and said this is what it’s going to be and that doesn’t work. And so it has to be a discussion, ideally, a smaller number of larger settlements have many benefits but ultimately that’s the discussion we are going to have.”
Te Ao Māori News has reached out to the Treaty Minister’s office for a response.
Finding a mandate
The Northland tribe is the last iwi to settle its historic Treaty grievances.
One of Goldsmith’s predecessors, Chris Finlayson, began negotiations with Ngāpuhi back in 2009. Eight years later in 2017, Finlayson had to withdraw from negotiations, following the Waitangi Tribunal findings that the Tūhoronuku Mandate undermined the rangatiratanga of hapū and, therefore, found its mandate was flawed.
Labour’s Treaty Minister Andrew Little followed Finlayson. Although hopeful, he also did not succeed with a revised mandate under the formed group Te Rōpū Tūhono that included the foursome, Tuhoronuku’s Sonny Tau and Hone Sadler; and original co-chairs of Te Kotahitanga o Ngā Hapū Ngāpuhi Pita Tipene and Rudy Taylor. Despite the efforts, Little did recognise the need for multiple mandates for hapū to settle, quoting that ‘there were many ways to skin this cat.’
In 2021, Little launched the Ngāpuhi Investment Fund , trading as Tupu Tonu. The move was a significant step in the Crown’s efforts to restore its relationship with the iwi and its commitment to help ngā hapū meet their economic aspirations for the future.
Ngāti Manu hapū was one of 110 Ngāpuhi hapu that announced its rejection of the 2018 revised proposal and instead wanted to negotiate a settlement separately with the Crown.
In 2019, Ngāti Hine launched its own campaign for a separate Treaty settlement.
Tribunal findings
In 2014, stage one of Te Paparahi o Te Raki was completed where it found the Northern chiefs did not cede sovereignty when they signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi) in 1840.
Last year in December, Part one of stage two was completed where the almost 2000-page document examined 415 individual Treaty claims from 1840-1900 across much of Northland. Part two will address claims relating to events after 1900.