An iwi leader says protesters trampled on his mana and Maori tikanga when they overturned tables at a hui with a Norwegian oil firm.
Te Runanga o Te Rarawa chairman Haami Piripi, who organised the hui at Kaitaia's Te Ahu Centre earlier this month, said his iwi opposed deep-sea oil drilling - but, now that the Government had allowed oil firm Statoil to start exploring, it was trying to work with the company to prevent any harmful effects.
Any such discussions were cut short when protesters overturned the table the Norwegians were sitting at, then the tables for iwi leaders and kaumatua.
"It was really shocking for me ... They gave the impression at first they were there to listen and participate, but as the meeting went on it became clear they were there to disrupt," he said.
However, protest group member Rueben Taipari Porter said the disruption came about because Mr Piripi had been repeatedly asked by kaumatua to stop the hui and had no right to negotiate on behalf of Te Rarawa or other iwi.
Earlier, a hui in Kaikohe had resolved that companies searching for oil, and government departments working with them, had to consult in a full and inclusive manner with affected whanau and hapu.
The group was surprised, Mr Porter said, when war veteran Selwyn Clarke tipped the tables over because, after leaving the hui when first asked, they had returned to close it properly with waiata and karakia.
When the seabed off Ninety Mile Beach was first put out for exploration, Mr Piripi said Te Rarawa had made extensive submissions about wahi tapu (sacred places), te ara wairua (the spiritual pathway) and taniwha. The Government put the block out for tender anyway, but Statoil was prepared to talk with the iwi to avoid any transgressions.
Te Rarawa had planned to discuss setting up an independent, iwi-run monitoring regime so that it would not have to rely on what the Government and company told them after the six-year exploration period was over.
The Norwegians had already agreed to allow iwi representatives onto their boats.
The meeting's early end was "a setback to our ability to care for and nurture the marine environment", he said.