Te Hiku Iwi - Te Aupôuri, Ngâi Takoto and Te Rarawa Agreed Deeds of Settlement
In November 2011 the Crown and three iwi of Te Hiku o Te Ika (Te Aupōuri, NgāiTakoto and Te Rarawa) agreed that deeds of settlement setting out collective redress and redress specific to each iwi are ready for presentation to the members of the iwi to decide on ratification.
Te Hiku o Te Ika a Maui (the tail of the fish of Maui) is the region from the Hokianga Harbour to Mangonui, northwards. There are five iwi in the region – Ngāti Kuri, Te Aupōuri, NgāiTakoto, Ngāti Kahu and Te Rarawa.
Each deed of settlement sets out in detail redress packages that are proposed to settle all the historical claims of the iwi. The packages are made up of:
• an agreed historical account and Crown acknowledgements (which form the basis for a Crown Apology);
• cultural redress; and
• financial and commercial redress.
The redress packages of the three iwi are summarised on the following pages:
Te Aupōuri
NgāiTakoto
Te Rarawa
These include both collective and individual redress. The full deeds are also available for download.
General Background
The journey to reach these agreements began on 7 June 1985 with a letter sent to the Waitangi Tribunal by Hon Matiu Rata alleging the Crown had failed to meet its Treaty obligations by presuming that iwi customary and traditional fishing rights and interests had been completely extinguished. He subsequently lodged the Wai 22 Muriwhenua Fishing Claim in June 1987 and the Wai 45 Muriwhenua Land Claim in December 1987. The Waitangi Tribunal’s Muriwhenua Fishing Claim Report 1988 and Muriwhenua Land Report 1997 addressed some of the claims in the region.
In May 1990 Dame Whina Cooper lodged the Wai 128 Hokianga Lands and Waters claim on behalf of Te Rarawa ki Hokianga, an area not covered by the Wai 45 Muriwhenua Land claim.
The historical grievances of Te Hiku iwi include claims about the Crown’s handling of pre-Treaty land transactions, surplus lands, pre-1865 Crown purchasing, the operation and impact of the native land laws, twentieth century Mäori land administration by the Crown, the Crown’s failure to respect, provide for and protect the special relationship between Te Hiku iwi and Te Oneroa-a-Töhe, the socio economic effects of colonisation, and the Crown’s failure to deliver the promised benefits of settlement.
The Waitangi Tribunal found that on the basis of the evidence presented to it when hearing claims in the region, the iwi claims were well founded. It recommended substantial redress to compensate Te Hiku iwi for prejudice arising from the Crown’s breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi / the Treaty of Waitangi.
Individual negotiations began between the Crown and Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa and Ngāti Kahu in the early 2000s, and with NgāiTakoto in 2008 and Ngāti Kuri in 2009.
The five Te Hiku iwi signed the Te Hiku Agreement in Principle in January 2010, offering redress to provide a basis for economic and social development for iwi and the region and better management of cultural taonga.
While three Te Hiku iwi - Te Aupōuri, NgāiTakoto and Te Rarawa - are now ready to take their individual agreements out to their people to decide on ratification, Ngāti Kuri are still in negotiations with the Crown. Ngāti Kahu has withdrawn from negotiations and is pursuing remedies via the Waitangi Tribunal.
Te Aupōuri are represented in negotiations by the trustees of Te Runanga Nui o Te Aupouri Trust, NgāiTakoto are represented by NgāiTakoto ā Iwi Research Unit Trust and Te Rarawa are represented by Te Runanga o Te Rarawa.
Questions and Answers
What is the key redress included in these settlements?
• Crown acknowledgements of past wrongs and an apology to each iwi.
• Financial quantum of $75.92 million
o Te Aupōuri $21.04 million
o NgāiTakoto $21.04 million
o Te Rarawa $33.84 million
• Transfer of 4 Crown-owned farms
o Te Aupōuri – Cape View, Te Raite
o NgāiTakoto – part of Sweetwater
o Te Rarawa – Te Karae, part of Sweetwater
• A share (through tenancy in common) of Crown forest lands on Aupouri Peninsula (21,283 ha) and accumulated rentals (approximately $2.2M to each iwi).
• Sale to iwi of other Crown properties, some of which will be leased back to the Crown.
• Vesting of cultural redress sites in individual iwi:
o Te Aupōuri 11 sites approx 1,300 ha (approx.)
o NgāiTakoto 10 sites, totalling 1,231 hectares (approx.)
o Te Rarawa 18 sites, 896 ha (approx.)
o 9 sites jointly in two or more Te Hiku iwi (with Te Aupōuri, NgāiTakoto and Te Rarawa portions totalling approximately 329 hectares).
• Co-governance arrangements over public conservation land (with the Crown) and Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē / Ninety Mile Beach (with local councils).
• Shared cultural redress payments as contribution to the Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē / Ninety Mile Beach co-governance arrangement ($400,000 for Te Oneroa-a-Töhe Board, $412,500 for the recognition of Te Aupōuri, NgāiTakoto and Te Rarawa historical and cultural association with Te Oneroa-a-Töhe).
• Individual cultural redress funds (Te Aupōuri $380,000, NgāiTakoto $2.4 million and Te Rarawa $380,000) to assist iwi to undertake projects of cultural significance.
• A Social Development and Wellbeing Accord, setting out how Te Hiku iwi and the Crown will work together to transform the social circumstances of the Te Hiku whänau, hapü and iwi (including a one-off Crown contribution of $812,500 for each iwi towards implementation).
Is there any private land being transferred?
No. However the Crown will acquire 4 Far North District Council properties, via a willing seller willing buyer arrangement, to vest in Te Rarawa as cultural redress.
Are the public’s rights affected?
In general, all existing public access rights in relation to areas affected by this settlement will be preserved.
Aupouri Crown forest land is transferring – once the land transfers out of Crown ownership, the agreement of the landowner (iwi) will be required for both foot and vehicular access other than use of Hukatere Road. The scope of such access will remain subject to the forestry operational requirements of the licensee.
Are any place names being changed?
Yes. Place names are significant for recognising iwi associations with geographic areas.
There will be 25 geographic names amended through the Te Aupōuri, NgāiTakoto and Te Rarawa deeds, including dual Maori-English names for Ninety Mile Beach (Te Oneroa-a-Töhe / Ninety Mile Beach), Cape Reinga (Cape Reinga / Te Rerenga Wairua), Spirits Bay (Piwhane / Spirits Bay) and Shipwreck Bay (Te Köhanga / Shipwreck Bay).
Will the iwi have the right to come back and make further claims about the behaviour of the Crown in the 19th and 20th centuries?
If a deed of settlement is ratified and passed into law, both parties agree it will be a final and comprehensive settlement of all the historical (relating to events before 21 September 1992) Treaty of Waitangi claims of those iwi. The settlement legislation, once passed, will prevent the iwi re-litigating the claim before the Waitangi Tribunal or the courts.
The settlement packages will still allow the iwi to pursue claims against the Crown for acts or omissions after 21 September 1992, as well as claims based on the continued existence of aboriginal title or customary rights. The Crown retains the right to dispute such claims or the existence of such title rights.
Who benefits from the settlements?
All members of Te Aupōuri, NgāiTakoto and Te Rarawa iwi, wherever they may now live, will benefit from the settlements of the iwi of which they are a member.
Next steps
Each settlement is subject to ratification by the people of each iwi. Voting on the settlements will take place over the coming months and be completed by the end of 2011 in the case of Te Aupōuri and by early 2012 in the case of NgāiTakoto and Te Rarawa. If they are ratified, the deeds will then be signed by iwi representatives and the Crown, and legislation introduced into Parliament to implement the settlements. Depending on the progress of other legislation in Parliament, this is likely to be completed in 2012 or 2013. Settlement redress will be transferred to iwi and the new co-governance committees established once settlement legislation is passed.
In November 2011 the Crown and three iwi of Te Hiku o Te Ika (Te Aupōuri, NgāiTakoto and Te Rarawa) agreed that deeds of settlement setting out collective redress and redress specific to each iwi are ready for presentation to the members of the iwi to decide on ratification.
Te Hiku o Te Ika a Maui (the tail of the fish of Maui) is the region from the Hokianga Harbour to Mangonui, northwards. There are five iwi in the region – Ngāti Kuri, Te Aupōuri, NgāiTakoto, Ngāti Kahu and Te Rarawa.
Each deed of settlement sets out in detail redress packages that are proposed to settle all the historical claims of the iwi. The packages are made up of:
• an agreed historical account and Crown acknowledgements (which form the basis for a Crown Apology);
• cultural redress; and
• financial and commercial redress.
The redress packages of the three iwi are summarised on the following pages:
Te Aupōuri
NgāiTakoto
Te Rarawa
These include both collective and individual redress. The full deeds are also available for download.
General Background
The journey to reach these agreements began on 7 June 1985 with a letter sent to the Waitangi Tribunal by Hon Matiu Rata alleging the Crown had failed to meet its Treaty obligations by presuming that iwi customary and traditional fishing rights and interests had been completely extinguished. He subsequently lodged the Wai 22 Muriwhenua Fishing Claim in June 1987 and the Wai 45 Muriwhenua Land Claim in December 1987. The Waitangi Tribunal’s Muriwhenua Fishing Claim Report 1988 and Muriwhenua Land Report 1997 addressed some of the claims in the region.
In May 1990 Dame Whina Cooper lodged the Wai 128 Hokianga Lands and Waters claim on behalf of Te Rarawa ki Hokianga, an area not covered by the Wai 45 Muriwhenua Land claim.
The historical grievances of Te Hiku iwi include claims about the Crown’s handling of pre-Treaty land transactions, surplus lands, pre-1865 Crown purchasing, the operation and impact of the native land laws, twentieth century Mäori land administration by the Crown, the Crown’s failure to respect, provide for and protect the special relationship between Te Hiku iwi and Te Oneroa-a-Töhe, the socio economic effects of colonisation, and the Crown’s failure to deliver the promised benefits of settlement.
The Waitangi Tribunal found that on the basis of the evidence presented to it when hearing claims in the region, the iwi claims were well founded. It recommended substantial redress to compensate Te Hiku iwi for prejudice arising from the Crown’s breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi / the Treaty of Waitangi.
Individual negotiations began between the Crown and Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa and Ngāti Kahu in the early 2000s, and with NgāiTakoto in 2008 and Ngāti Kuri in 2009.
The five Te Hiku iwi signed the Te Hiku Agreement in Principle in January 2010, offering redress to provide a basis for economic and social development for iwi and the region and better management of cultural taonga.
While three Te Hiku iwi - Te Aupōuri, NgāiTakoto and Te Rarawa - are now ready to take their individual agreements out to their people to decide on ratification, Ngāti Kuri are still in negotiations with the Crown. Ngāti Kahu has withdrawn from negotiations and is pursuing remedies via the Waitangi Tribunal.
Te Aupōuri are represented in negotiations by the trustees of Te Runanga Nui o Te Aupouri Trust, NgāiTakoto are represented by NgāiTakoto ā Iwi Research Unit Trust and Te Rarawa are represented by Te Runanga o Te Rarawa.
Questions and Answers
What is the key redress included in these settlements?
• Crown acknowledgements of past wrongs and an apology to each iwi.
• Financial quantum of $75.92 million
o Te Aupōuri $21.04 million
o NgāiTakoto $21.04 million
o Te Rarawa $33.84 million
• Transfer of 4 Crown-owned farms
o Te Aupōuri – Cape View, Te Raite
o NgāiTakoto – part of Sweetwater
o Te Rarawa – Te Karae, part of Sweetwater
• A share (through tenancy in common) of Crown forest lands on Aupouri Peninsula (21,283 ha) and accumulated rentals (approximately $2.2M to each iwi).
• Sale to iwi of other Crown properties, some of which will be leased back to the Crown.
• Vesting of cultural redress sites in individual iwi:
o Te Aupōuri 11 sites approx 1,300 ha (approx.)
o NgāiTakoto 10 sites, totalling 1,231 hectares (approx.)
o Te Rarawa 18 sites, 896 ha (approx.)
o 9 sites jointly in two or more Te Hiku iwi (with Te Aupōuri, NgāiTakoto and Te Rarawa portions totalling approximately 329 hectares).
• Co-governance arrangements over public conservation land (with the Crown) and Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē / Ninety Mile Beach (with local councils).
• Shared cultural redress payments as contribution to the Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē / Ninety Mile Beach co-governance arrangement ($400,000 for Te Oneroa-a-Töhe Board, $412,500 for the recognition of Te Aupōuri, NgāiTakoto and Te Rarawa historical and cultural association with Te Oneroa-a-Töhe).
• Individual cultural redress funds (Te Aupōuri $380,000, NgāiTakoto $2.4 million and Te Rarawa $380,000) to assist iwi to undertake projects of cultural significance.
• A Social Development and Wellbeing Accord, setting out how Te Hiku iwi and the Crown will work together to transform the social circumstances of the Te Hiku whänau, hapü and iwi (including a one-off Crown contribution of $812,500 for each iwi towards implementation).
Is there any private land being transferred?
No. However the Crown will acquire 4 Far North District Council properties, via a willing seller willing buyer arrangement, to vest in Te Rarawa as cultural redress.
Are the public’s rights affected?
In general, all existing public access rights in relation to areas affected by this settlement will be preserved.
Aupouri Crown forest land is transferring – once the land transfers out of Crown ownership, the agreement of the landowner (iwi) will be required for both foot and vehicular access other than use of Hukatere Road. The scope of such access will remain subject to the forestry operational requirements of the licensee.
Are any place names being changed?
Yes. Place names are significant for recognising iwi associations with geographic areas.
There will be 25 geographic names amended through the Te Aupōuri, NgāiTakoto and Te Rarawa deeds, including dual Maori-English names for Ninety Mile Beach (Te Oneroa-a-Töhe / Ninety Mile Beach), Cape Reinga (Cape Reinga / Te Rerenga Wairua), Spirits Bay (Piwhane / Spirits Bay) and Shipwreck Bay (Te Köhanga / Shipwreck Bay).
Will the iwi have the right to come back and make further claims about the behaviour of the Crown in the 19th and 20th centuries?
If a deed of settlement is ratified and passed into law, both parties agree it will be a final and comprehensive settlement of all the historical (relating to events before 21 September 1992) Treaty of Waitangi claims of those iwi. The settlement legislation, once passed, will prevent the iwi re-litigating the claim before the Waitangi Tribunal or the courts.
The settlement packages will still allow the iwi to pursue claims against the Crown for acts or omissions after 21 September 1992, as well as claims based on the continued existence of aboriginal title or customary rights. The Crown retains the right to dispute such claims or the existence of such title rights.
Who benefits from the settlements?
All members of Te Aupōuri, NgāiTakoto and Te Rarawa iwi, wherever they may now live, will benefit from the settlements of the iwi of which they are a member.
Next steps
Each settlement is subject to ratification by the people of each iwi. Voting on the settlements will take place over the coming months and be completed by the end of 2011 in the case of Te Aupōuri and by early 2012 in the case of NgāiTakoto and Te Rarawa. If they are ratified, the deeds will then be signed by iwi representatives and the Crown, and legislation introduced into Parliament to implement the settlements. Depending on the progress of other legislation in Parliament, this is likely to be completed in 2012 or 2013. Settlement redress will be transferred to iwi and the new co-governance committees established once settlement legislation is passed.
