Waitangi Tribunal to hear Ngāti Raukawa iwi confederation claims in Bulls next week

Speaker Hemi Te Peeti (Ngāti Raukawa) welcoming the Waitangi Tribunal to Hato Pāora College during the first hearing in March 2020. Photo / Whare Akuhata

The Ngāti Raukawa iwi confederation will present the next round of its treaty claims to the Waitangi Tribunal at Parewahawaha Marae in Bulls on November 9-13.

It will be the third week of hearings in a series that started in March this year.

Dennis Emery (Ngāti Kauwhata), chairman of Te Hono ki Raukawa Council, a main claimant group, said it is one of the last big Treaty claims in Aotearoa.

"The iwi comprise some 30,000 members and belong to Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Ngāti Kauwhata, Nga Iwi O Te Reureu, Ngāti Tūkorehe and Ngati Wehiwehi and are based in the Manawatū, Horowhenua and Kapiti Coast," Emery said.

"The main grievance and highly contentious issue is termed 'te pene raupatu' or land loss by the stealth of the pen for over 320,000 acres."

Emery said they lost more than most iwi in the proportion of land taken by the Government in the late 1890s, with the Rangitīkei, Manawatū and Horowhenua iwi becoming the most landless in the country.

"We also suffered in terms of cultural loss, loss of papakāinga [settlements] and consequently the tribes' self-sufficiency. We suffered a much greater loss than others emanating in the opportunity of not being able to participate in the country's economy."

The original claim Wai 113 was lodged in 1989 by late kaumātua Whata Karaka Davis, Ngārongo Iwikatea Nicholson, Te Maharanui Jacob and Pita Richardson.

Next week's hearing will be the third of 12 hearings that started at Hato Paora College, Feilding, in March and will progress to Horowhenua and Ōtaki following a clear historical sequence of events.

Local hapū Ngāti Parewahawaha and Ngāti Manomano will speak to their claims and technical researcher Dr Heather Bassett will speak to her report on the effects of the Public Works Act on the entire iwi estate.

The hearing begins with a pōwhiri at Parewahawaha Marae at 9am on Monday, November 9. At 8am a separate pōwhiri will be held for taonga and iwi/hapū groups.

The fourth week of hearings has been scheduled for December 7-11 and is expected to be hosted by Nga Iwi O Te Reureu at Te Tikanga Marae at Tokorangi. The 2021 schedule of hearings begins in April.