First claim to UN under Indigenous Rights Declaration launched by Ngapuhi leader

A day after announcing his intention to seek the return of the Treaty Grounds at Waitangi to his hapu – Te Matarahurahu – Ngapuhi academic David Rankin has written to the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee of the United Nations, formally requesting the process to be set in place for the land to be returned.

“This will be a test for the United Nations and for the New Zealand Government”, he says. “We also expect that this action will serve as a precedent for hapu throughout the country”.

Mr. Rankin’s appeal to the United Nations is based on Article 32 of the Declaration of Indigenous Rights, which requires the state to obtain ‘free and intelligent consent’ before doing anything that affects the land of indigenous people.

“We have proven in evidence presented to the Tribunal that the Treaty Grounds belong to Te Matarahurahu”, says Mr Rankin, “ and in the absence of any Government evidence that they obtained our free and intelligent consent to take this territory over, we assert our rights to reclaim it under Article 32 of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People”.

“If the land is not returned, the New Zealand Government will be exposed in front of the international community as failing to keep its obligations. It will seriously dent the country’s credibility throughout the world”, he says.

TEXT OF THE PRELIMINARY LETTER TO THE DIRECTOR

SOCIAL, HUMANITARIAN AND CULTURAL COMMITTEE

UNITED NATIONS

Tena koe,

RE MATARAHURAHU CLAIM TO TREATY GROUNDS, WAITANGI, AOTEAROA

1. My name is David Rankin, and I am the leader of Te Matarahurahu – a hapu of Ngapuhi.

2. I have been mandated by my hapu to represent it in the matter of an area of 2490 acres situated in Aotearoa’s Bay of Islands, known as the Treaty Grounds.

3. This parcel of land was appropriated by the Crown without the free and intelligent consent of its owners – my ancestors – and was subsequently alienated.

4. Our hapu have submitted a claim to Aotearoa’s Waitangi Tribunal, but it has so far failed to take any action, and nor is it likely to in the foreseeable future.

5. Because of the nature of the alienation, we consider that the state breached its obligations under Article 32 of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, to which the state known as New Zealand has recently become a signatory to.

6. This preliminary letter requests that the United Nations considers in principle the issues surrounding our claim, and commences the process whereby Te Matarahurahu obtains a hearing in front of the United Nations

7. This preliminary letter further requests that Te Matarahurahu be given permission to submit full details relating to our claim, and the manner in which the state has breached its obligations under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.

Noho ora mai,

David Rankin

Te Matarahurahu

ENDS

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