Outsiders may derail Treaty progress - Ngapuhi leader

A Ngapuhi leader is warning that "outsiders" could derail the tribe's progress to settlement while others accuse the organisation he leads of manipulating the settlement process.

In Te Runanga a Iwi o Ngapuhi's (Traion) annual report chairman Sonny Tau outlines the importance of moving from grievance to development. Delaying Treaty of Waitangi settlement means too many opportunities are being lost, he said.

Traion wants Ngapuhi to start settlement negotiations with the Government, however, complicating matters is that some in the country's largest iwi - 122,000 strong - want to first go through Waitangi Tribunal hearings to challenge the constitutional basis of the Crown's sovereignty.

In other regions enormous division has broken out among iwi where government negotiations, which puts a dollar figure on historical grievance, and the tribunal process, which establishes what occurred in a region's history, has occurred at the same time.

The stalemate in Auckland between Ngati Whatua o Orakei which has a settlement deal on hold and hapu such as Te Taou is an example where strong distrust has developed because the two processes happened at the same time.

Mr Tau accepts that the tribunal process is important but said that a "dual pathway" for settlement could work, though he concedes the issue is the "greatest modern-day" challenge facing the tribe. "These issues are constitutional and the findings will undoubtedly impact on settlement negotiations.

"I want to be quite clear that this journey will not be easy. There will be those, some who are being influenced by outsiders, who want to slow the process down - indeed, derail it."

Mr Tau clarified outsiders as those who didn't want the "gravy train ride" to end. "By outsiders I am referring to lawyers not of Ngapuhi descent who have continuously derailed other iwi settlement processes to settle their grievances against the Crown, who are out to line their own pockets and pursue their own agendas without consideration for Ngapuhi whanui [all of the tribe]."

However, Traion board member Pita Tipene, from Ngati Hine, said: "There's a feeling that the runanga is manipulating the process.

"The mandating question is muddying the waters and taking people's eyes off the ball. There needs to be a clear focus on the hearing. This is our one chance in history to prove to the tribunal and government that He Whakaputanga [the Declaration of Independence] and Te Tiriti o Waitangi were documents that say our tupuna never ever ceded sovereignty."

Hapu from the eastern side of Ngapuhi, along the Bay of Islands coastline, as well as groups from the Hokianga will discuss the situation next Wednesday at Te Kotahitanga marae in Kaikohe.

Traion's annual meeting is on Saturday.