4 minute read
Taketake Tangata - Takea ki te pūtake: Ensure and enable the voice of influence and advocacy for Taranaki iwi and our marae pā, hapū and uri.
Iwi sign off ‘uniquely Taranaki’ redress for maunga confiscation
Collective redress for the confiscation of Taranaki maunga puts in place protection arrangements in a “uniquely Taranaki way”.
Signed by the eight iwi of Taranaki at Owae Marae in Waitara on September 1, the deed of settlement Te Ruruku Pūtakerongo recognises the peaks of the national park as ancestral maunga and collectively gives them rights of legal personhood.
Crown ownership will end and ngā maunga – known as Te Kāhui Tupua – will own themselves. Te Ruruku Pūtakerongo will take precedence over the National Park Act.
Te Kāhui o Taranaki Trust chair Jacqui King says the settlement, negotiated with the Crown by the Taranaki Maunga Collective, is rooted in Taranaki values and includes an historical account of the confiscation, a Crown apology and shared governance of the 36,000ha Te Papakura o Taranaki national park.
“Fundamentally, what this means is recognition that whatever arrangements are put in place for the maunga, they have to be for the benefit of ngā maunga.”
“The arrangements articulate that in a uniquely Taranaki way. They describe the distinct characteristics of ngā maunga and are representative of both Te Kāhui Tupua and the people of Taranaki.”
The deed negotiated over six years with the Crown was initialled in March by iwi negotiators at Aotearoa Pā in the rohe of Ngāruahine, and ratified in August by uri of the eight iwi. Each iwi ran its own ratification process and poll.
The Trust chair says there was plenty of opportunity for uri to engage and understand the arrangements, and she was pleased to see good voter turnout among uri of Taranaki Iwi.
“The response rate from Taranaki Iwi was excellent with a voter turnout of 30.82%. That’s just over 1,300 votes with 97.12% of whānau approving the redress arrangements. This participation highlighted how engaged our whānau were in this process.”
She says the process to achieve maunga redress took far longer than the six years of collective negotiation.
“Our claims around confiscation of the maunga started decades ago when each of our iwi first started on their respective settlement journeys. We all included the maunga confiscation and its impacts as part of those respective claims but the Crown would not recognise that in our individual settlements.”
“The Crown would not negotiate until all eight iwi had settled and agreed on an approach to the maunga. We can’t forget that the maunga redress is a continuation of our individual respective settlement claims.”
The redress provides a financial base to support the Iwi with carrying out their statutory functions. The group will be required to give effect to the arrangements including developing park management plans, which will then need approval from the Minister of Conservation and the collective iwi governance entity Te Tōpuni Ngārahu. The Department of Conservation will retain day-to-day management.
“The new park management plan is where the rubber will hit the road,” Jacqui says. “While governance is important, the new national park framework He Kawa Ora will detail and determine the what, how and when for ngā maunga and embed principles of identity and protection.”
“Planners from the Crown and iwi will prepare the new management plan. It will then be signed off by the respective governance. He Kawa Ora must take into account the overarching principles of the maunga redress arrangements. It will become the blueprint for those managing day-to-day operations and those using the park and will be updated every 10 years.”
The final step to settle the claims is passing legislation through Parliament to make the terms of settlement legally binding.
