Ngāpuhi Treaty Settlement: Ngāti Hine to hold roadshow to acquire mandate, Tūhoronuku could be disestablished

Changes are on the horizon for Ngāpuhi's Treaty settlement process as Ngāti Hine plans roadshows to acquire its own mandate, while the disestablishment of Tūhoronuku could be imminent if other hapū move forward with the rejected evolved mandate.

Last year 73 hapū rejected the evolved mandate, a plan proposed to move Ngāpuhi forward, while 31 hapū supported it.

Since then, hapū throughout Ngāpuhi have been working on ways to move forward.

There were two hui held in Northland on Saturday - one at NorthTec's Te Puna o Te Matauranga Marae in Whangārei which was attended by about 170 people, and another held at Te Tārai o Rāhiri Marae in Mangakahia organised by Kia Anga Mua Ngā Hapū o Ngāpuhi - formed by the 31 hapū who voted for the evolved mandate.

At the Whangārei hui, Pita Tipene, deputy chairman of Te Runanga a Iwi o Ngāti Hine, reaffirmed Ngāti Hine's position that it wishes to seek its own mandate and said hapū would be holding meetings throughout New Zealand and overseas - starting in August - to acquire that.

"This sends a very clear signal to everyone, including the Crown, that we mean business, we want to move.

"Any mandate must be informed by the people and we want to have quality time with our people to sit down to hear what their aspirations are."

Ngāti Hine is not the only hapū wanting to obtain its own mandate, Piripi Moore - one of the facilitators of the Whangārei hui - said some hapū will pursue their own mandates while others are looking to work collaboratively with other hapū in their regions.

"In terms of the claims, it's quite obvious that the central single mandate model just hasn't got us there," he said.

At the hui, which followed one held at Kohewhata Marae in January, the establishment of a collective forum through an assembly of Ngāpuhi hapū was supported, and will be discussed at a wānanga in July.

Meanwhile, Hone Sadler, chairman of Tūhoronuku - which holds the Crown-recognised mandate to negotiate Ngāpuhi's claims, attended the Mangakahia hui with about 60 others.

He said hapū had agreed to move away from the Tūhoronuku mandate and that the best option was to move forward with the evolved mandate, but they are awaiting comment from the Crown and will discuss this at the next hui.

He said if Ngāpuhi move forward with the evolved mandate, Tūhoronuku would not exist.

"The board would have to be refreshed and it's up to the hapū to decide what they are going to do," he said.

Sadler believed because 73 hapū had rejected the evolved the mandate it had held the settlement process up.

He also was not "jumping up for joy" over the potential disestablishment of Tūhoronuku.

"We had the opportunity. Missed opportunities."

Treaty Minister Andrew Little did not reply to the Advocate's request for comment by edition time.