Ngāti Rangi iwi descended on Parliament today to witness the third and final reading of their Claims Settlement Bill –
Rukutia Te Mana.
Chairman Che Wilson said today was a momentous occasion for Ngāti Rangi iwi.
“He rā whakahirahira tēnei mō mātou o Ngāti Rangi nui tonu, hei tūranga hoki mō te iwi i Aotearoa nei.”
Rukutia Te Mana is framed around six poupou (pillars) of Ngāti Rangi’s settlement framework, Ngā Poupou o te Whare Toka
o Paerangi (The Pinnacles of the House of Stone of Paerangi) and includes the Crown’s acknowledgement of numerous
breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi, an agreed historical account and an apology from the Crown for those breaches.
“The settlement will never compensate for the deliberate degredation of our whakapapa and cultural identity. But it will
allow us to focus on the future and move forward by utilising the settlement pack-age to develop and restore our Ngāti
Rangitanga” said Soraya Peke-Mason, Chair of the Ngāti Rangi post-settlement entity, Te Tōtarahoe o Paerangi.
The settlement includes a ground-breaking and integrated new framework for the Whangaehu River catchment called Te
Waiū-o-Te-Ika, which recognises the intrinsic connection between the iwi and hapū of Whangaehu with the awa. It also
includes the return of the lake beds at Rotokura, a compre-hensive Conservation Partnership Framework and special
arrangements in relation to pākohe, pākere, onewa and matā.
The settlement includes financial and commercial redress of approximately $17m. This is made up of a combination of
cash, commercial redress properties to transfer through the settlement, as well as a range of rights of first refusal
and deferred selection over specified Crown property.
“I am reminded of the sacrifice of those that have gone before us, 178 years since the settlement journey begun. And
while they are not here to witness the fruits of their own labour, I hope they are proud. Reaching the third reading
though important, is not the final step in our journey. There is much more work to be done,” said Che Wilson.
“We look forward to the Crown, private and community sectors to see Ngāti Rangi as partners of choice. Where Ngāti Rangi
goes, so go our partners.”
The Bill does not contain redress in relation to the area within the Tongariro National Park. The Crown has committed to
collective negotiations with all iwi with an interest in the area of the Park, which will occur at a later date.
Copies of the Ngāti Rangi Deed of Settlement can be found at