Ngati Rangi close in on land settlement

Ngti Rangi lead negotiator Che Wilson speaks before the tribe's Deed of Settlement is initialled at Parliament. Photo / Facebook.

The Deed of Settlement initialled by Ruapehu iwi Ngati Rangi and the Crown last week will enable the iwi to rebuild itself and stand strong and constant, lead negotiator Che Wilson says.

The deed was initialled at Parliament on August 17, by a small group from the Ohakune area. Its other negotiators were Shar Amner, Cassandra Reid, Carl Wilson, Toni Waho and Kemp Dryden.

Negotiations have taken two years, and follow an Agreement in Principle signed in March. Mr Wilson said it had been a long process, with many teleconferences.

The next stage will be a travelling roadshow, to tell iwi members what is in the settlement. They will then vote on whether to ratify it.

Mr Wilson said the agreement compared favourably with that of other iwi of the same size.

"You can rest assured that we have turned over every stone in the awa to push this process right to the end."

Getting to this stage felt like a dream to him.

"We are now making this dream a reality," he said.

The tribe is asking for partnership, reconciliation and recognition from the Crown, and its "attempts to make Ngati Rangi invisible" are to stop.

Ngati Rangi wants help for the environment, and prosperity and well-being for its people.

The proposed settlement package will include an agreed account of Treaty of Waitangi breaches up until 1992, and an apology.

It also wants cultural redress, including a recognition of the Whangaehu River that will be similar to that accorded the Whanganui. The Whangaehu is unique in New Zealand, Mr Wilson said, being naturally mineralised from its source at Mt Ruapehu's Crater Lake.

Ngati Rangi wants the Whangaehu catchment's health and well-being protected, and a say in decisions about it. The iwi has already embarked on fencing and planting 60km of waterway, with the help of Government's Freshwater Improvement Fund and a tribal contribution of $450,000.

It also wants to work with the Conservation Department on decisions about land in its area, and it wants provision for members to take important stone resources from Mt Ruapehu and its rivers.

It's asking for a cultural fund of $167,000, and ownership of the bed of Lake Rotokura. Under the settlement it would receive and symbolically gift back Defence Force land near Waiouru.

Its financial redress of $17 million could be used to buy back land in the Karioi Forest, and other Crown property it will have first right of refusal on.

The tribe's claims within Tongariro National Park are another matter. Addressing them, along with those of other iwi, will begin in 2018.

Fact Box
+ Ngati Rangi initialled potential Treaty of Waitangi land settlement on August 17
+ It has yet to be voted on by members of the tribe
+ It asks for $17 million financial redress -
+ also recognition and help for the Whangaehu River,
+ more say over conservation land in area,
+ the ability to take stone on conservation land,
+ ownership of the bed of Lake Rotokura,
+ and symbolic regifting of Army land near Waiouru.