Labour list MP and proud Ngapuhi Shane Jones is urging the iwi's divided leadership to put aside their differences and get on with settling its Treaty of Waitangi claims so the country's largest tribe can progress.
Ngapuhi are divided over the Government recognising the Te Ropu o Tuhoronuku mandate to represent the tribe in Treaty settlement negotiations, with one side contemplating legal action.
Tuhoronuku, a sub-committee of Te Runanga a Iwi o Ngapuhi, has praised the Government decision. But Te Kotahitanga nga Hapu o Ngapuhi - who want the Waitangi Tribunal to complete its current hearing of about 360 Ngapuhi Treaty claims before negotiating settlement - are considering a possible legal challenge.
Mr Jones said with more than 120,000 members, Ngapuhi needed to progress its treaty settlement so the tribe could overcome its historical social difficulties and it was up to the warring leaders to put aside their differences.
"The whole of the north will benefit from this settlement, but it needs Ngapuhi's leaders to patch up their differences and remember the words of our kaumatua Wiki Karena Te Aupouri: 'first land the whale before squabbling about how you cut it up'," Mr Jones said.