Ngāti Rangi representatives at Parliament before the third and final reading of their claims settlement bill. Photo / Quentin Bedwell
Ngāti Rangi representatives at Parliament before the third and final reading of their claims settlement bill. Photo / Quentin Bedwell
Ruapehu iwi Ngāti Rangi is getting down to business to deal with its $17 million treaty settlement and blueprint for the future.
The iwi - the first in the Whanganui region to reach treaty settlement - has set up social and commercial entities and is seeking a chief executive tomanage its many operations.
Finding the right person is especially important now that settlement has been reached, Soraya Peke-Mason said. She is the chairwoman of its board, Te Tōtarahoe o Paerangi.
Current pou ārahi/general manager Erena Mikaere has been an interim appointment since Kemp Dryden left the job to return to a banking role. Mikaere had previously managed the tribe's Ruapehu Whānau Transformation Plan.
Current Ngāti Rangi pou ārahi Erena Mikaere-Most (second from left) was pictured at the launch of Te Pae Tata. Photo / Liz Wylie
"I just want to encourage people out there to apply," Peke-Mason said.
"The job is open to anyone. You don't have to be a registered member of the iwi, but certainly if you have a lens about the Māori world, at the least, that would be helpful."
The role will be about growing Ngāti Rangi, and also the community around it.
Soraya Peke-Mason is on the Whanganui District Health Board and Whanganui Community Foundation, as well as chairing Te Tōtarahoe o Paerangi. Photo / Bevan Conley
The chief executive will need to manage Ngāti Rangi operations and also be a conduit between its various entities. The position will be based at the tribe's office at 1 Mountain Rd in Ohakune.
The Ngāti Rangi base is at the western side of Mount Ruapehu. Photo / Charles Quirk
The path ahead is being laid out by the tribe's rūnanga (council) Te Kahui o Paerangi. Its blueprint for the next 15 years is Te Ara Ki Te Moungaroa 2035.
"It's been worked on for six months and it's almost ready for adoption," Peke-Mason said.
Her interim board has been preparing the iwi for post-settlement times. Two other entities have been set up.
Ngā Waihua o Paerangi will be the social arm and run operations.
The commercial arm is Te Kūmete o Paerangi. Its three directors will be Tomairangi Mareikura, former Ngāti Rangi chief executive Dryden and Pahia Turia, the chair of Ngā Wairiki/Ngāti Apa and of Whanganui & Partners.
Ngā Waihua o Paerangi and Te Tōtarahoe o Paerangi have the same members - Peke-Mason, Keria Ponga, Tomairangi Mareikura, Brendon Morgan, Raana Mareikura (Nana Biddy), Whetu Moataane, Deborah Te Riaki and Jean Wilson.
Membership of the overall board, Te Tōtarahoe o Paerangi, could change after elections this year. It will have five people elected from among members of the iwi, and two others - Whetu Moataane as chair of Te Kahui o Paerangi, and kuia Jean Wilson.
Peke-Mason isn't sure whether she will stand for election to it.
"I'm keen on opening up doors and allowing the next generation to come through," she said.
With Holly Molesworth leaving the job, Ngāti Rangi is also seeking a new environmental manager.
Ruapehu Recruitment, which came out of the transformation plan, has become a separate entity with an office in Ohakune. Deborah Te Riaki is its director.
Che Wilson launched the Ruapehu Whānau Transformation Plan when he was Ngāti Rangi pou ārahi in 2013. Photo / Bevan Conley
Te Pae Tata Ruapehu Community Learning & Technology Hub also came out of the transformation plan. It hosts courses and events, and also hires out rooms.
Ngāti Rangi's Treaty of Waitangi settlement bill, Rukutia Te Mana, passed its third reading in Parliament on July 25 last year. The settlement comes with $17 million in financial and commercial compensation.
It includes Crown acknowledgement of many breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi, an agreed historical account and an apology, as well as the return of important sites and new partnership arrangements.
