Ngati Manu hapu rejects Tuhoronuku
At a meeting at held at Karetu on Thursday 9th of May, Ngati Manu hapu unanimously rejected Tuhoronuku and interim Chair
Sonny Tau’s efforts to negotiate and lead a treaty settlement on behalf of Ngati Manu.
“We absolutely reject the Te Rununga o Ngapuhi derivative Tuhoronuku speaking or acting on behalf of Ngati Manu’ says
Ngati Manu presenter Marsha Davis.
“Ngati Manu first declared opposition to a Tuhoronuki led process in 2010 and we confirm this again. We are alarmed at a
recent newspaper article in the Bay Chronicle, 9 May 2013, which attempts to discredit Ngati Hine leaders while
positioning Tuhoronoku, a charitable trust, as the only ‘vehicle’ to negotiate Te Paparahi o te Raki treaty claims.”
“We have just completed three hui where Ngati Manu kaikorero presented their evidence and received hapu support. We are
all excited and nervous to be presenting to the Waitangi Tribunal on Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 May 2013 as this is an
important time for us. Evidence to be presented is about historical crown breaches of Te Tiriti, land grabbing and
raupatu against Ngati Manu. It is also about Ngati Manu’s special relationship with Queen Victoria. Nowhere in our
evidence is there any record of our tupuna dealing with the crown through a charitable trust. Our tupuna were
autonomous, they made their own decisions and we honour our tupuna by doing the same.”
“We support Takutai Moana because it is founded on kaupapa Maori which enables the fundamental right and authority of
hapu whanau decision making. It has been Takutai Moana who has assisted Ngati Manu and other Bay of Islands hapu to
proceed to these treaty hearings, not Tuhoronuku. The remedies Ngati Manu seek from the crown arise from a history of
oppression against Ngati Manu and we see Tuhoronuku’s crown driven process and outcomes as a form of modern day
oppression.”
“We are also concerned at Minister of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Mr. Finlayson’s continued attempts to pre-empt
hapu autonomy by pushing a Tuhoronuku agenda. We see this as another example of Crown pre-emption similar to what took
place at the signing of Te Tiriti on Feb 6th 1840. We uphold that our Ngati Manu ancestors maintained autonomy and
rangatiratanga and did not cede ‘sovereignty’ when they signed Te Tiriti. The last time the Minister took such a public
stance he foreshadowed the largest grab of Maori land since Te Tiriti and the crown, the foreshore and seabed. We urge
the Minster to step back from publicly supporting Tuhoronuku and stop pre-empting hapu decision making.”
-End-