Release of the Waitangi Tribunal WAI 785 Te Tau Ihu report: ‘Te Tau Ihu O Te Waka-a-Maui’

The Waitangi Tribunal presented its full and final report Te Tau Ihu O Te Waka-a-Maui at Whakatu Marae on November 22nd.  The ceremony commenced with a Powhiri at 11am, following which Tribunal Kaumatua presented Tribunal Reports to each Wai group and individual claimants. The presentation marked an historic vindication of the claims of the Kurahaupo Iwi as their settlement negotiations with the Crown draw to a close.

Kurahaupo Chairman, Richard Bradley, said the Tribunal’s final report provides an important evidential base for the settlement of the Kurahaupo claims.
“ The Tribunal emphatically upholds our rightful place as legitimate Tangata Whenua alongside the other northern tribes of Te Tau Ihu (top of the South Island). It concludes that Ngāti Apa, Ngāti Kuia, and Rangitāne had valid customary rights in Te Tau Ihu when the Treaty was signed in 1840 and that the Crown’s repeated failure to recognise those rights – acquiring their lands and resources without obtaining their full and free consent or providing adequate compensation - was a serious breach of the Treaty.”
 
“In outlining the deficiencies of the Crown’s actions and policies the recommendations in the report will ensure that the current settlement negotiations with the Crown do not result in further inequities for the Kurahaupo Iwi,” he added.
 
Ngati Apa Chairman Brendon Wilson said the Report acknowledges the unique grievance of Ngāti Apa. “The customary interests of our Iwi within Te Tau Ihu were never extinguished by any kind of deed, nor were Ngāti Apa compensated or allocated adequate reserves,” said Mr Wilson. “ The Tribunal report marks the first time Ngāti Apa have gained formal recognition of our customary rights, particularly in the areas of Tasman, Golden Bays and the West Coast, since 1860.”
 
The Tribunal’s report is an especially significant event for Kath Hemi, former Ngati Apa chairperson who is in her mid 80s and oldest surviving Wai 785 claimant.  “The findings of the Waitangi Tribunal finally recognise the legitimate rights and interests of our Kurahaupo people – something I never thought I would see in my lifetime,” she said.
 
Chairman of the Te Runanga o Ngāti Kuia Trust, Waihaere Mason, noted the far-reaching impact of the Tribunal’s findings. “Ngāti Kuia now have formal recognition of our customary interests in land and resources that have long been treated as the exclusive domain of others. The report creates the foundation for Ngāti Kuia and the other Kurahaupo Iwi to take their rightful place in arrangements for the management of these taonga.”
 
His views are echoed by Judith Macdonald, Chairperson of Te Runanga a Rangitāne o Wairau, who said the Tribunal’s acknowledgement of grievances and prejudices suffered by Rangitane and the other Kurahaupo iwi paves the way forward to restore mana and build a strong future in partnership with the community. “The prejudices suffered by our people as a result of land loss are deep and very real,” she said. “The report validates the claims we seek settlement of and provides momentum to complete settlement negotiations so that we can progress the social, economic and cultural well being of our Iwi.”
 
 The Wai 785 (TeTau Ihu) inquiry competed its hearings in 2004. In order to assist claimants in their Treaty settlement negotiations with the Crown the Waitangi Tribunal issued a series of three staged reports that provided early findings on customary rights and the treatment of the Iwi by the Crown. The three Kurahaupo Iwi entered into formal negotiations with the Crown as a large natural grouping in November 2006 and have proceeded to achieve significant progress towards settlement of their historical claims with the Crown.

To read the Waitangi Tribunal Report in full, please  Click Here

Click here to view a selection of images from Whakatu Marae 22nd November 2008.