Hundreds of people gathered at Aotearoa Pā in South Taranaki today to witness the initialling of Te Ruruku Pūtakerongo - the Treaty of Waitangi settlement for Taranaki Maunga.
The deal consigns the name Egmont to the history books in favour of Taranaki Maunga, and the national park’s peaks, regarded as tūpuna by Māori, will jointly become a legal person named Te Kāhui Tupua.
The mountain was taken in 1865 as part of the confiscation of 1.2 million hectares of Māori land for the “rebellion” of the Taranaki Wars.
In 1978, it was vested in the Taranaki Māori Trust Board but immediately gifted back to the nation - although the Waitangi Tribunal found little evidence that hapū had agreed to the deal.
Today, representatives of the Crown - led by Treaty Minister Andrew Little - walked on to Aotearoa Pā to the sound of the Parihaka drum and poi to try to put that historic wrong right.
Lead negotiator for Ngā iwi o Taranaki, Jamie Tuuta, said it was a momentous occasion.
“This has been six years in the making for our generation, but it has been 172 years for those of our ... tūpuna who have passed.”
Tuuta said restoring the mountain’s name was a vital part of the settlement.
“It is the first time in New Zealand history that a natural geographic feature, such as a mountain, has a te reo Māori name.
“And that will be Taranaki Maunga, so no more ‘Egmont’.”
The national park will also have a new name - Te Papakura o Taranaki, meaning ‘the highly regarded and treasured lands of Taranaki’ - and a new governance structure.
Liana Poutu and Jamie Tuuta, lead negotiators for Ngā iwi o Taranaki. Photo / RNZ, Robin Martin
The park and its peaks will become a legal person named Te Kāhui Tupua, and it will have an entity to act as its voice: Te Tōpuni Kōkōrangi, made up of iwi and Crown appointees.
Tuuta said he was optimistic the wider community would embrace the new arrangement.
Another unique aspect of the settlement is that it was negotiated with the eight iwi of Taranaki collectively.
Negotiator Liana Poutu said that was an interesting challenge, but that they have come through the process and remain together said a lot about the iwi leadership.
Treaty Minister Andrew Little said people have nothing to fear about access to the park, and everybody will be allowed there.
“The maunga, however, will, I think, be better cared for, because not only will the Crown work in partnership with local iwi ... but iwi, Māori, will exercise the kaitiakitanga obligations they have to their tūpuna.”
