The final tangata whenua Treaty hearing was held this week on Raukawa Marae in Ōtaki.
The Ngāti Raukawa confederation of iwi located in the Manawatū/Horowhenua/Kāpiti area comprises Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Ngāti Kauwhata, Ngāti Tukorehe, Ngāti Wehi Wehi and Te Reureu (Ngāti Maniapoto/Ngāti Tūwharetoa/Raukawa).
Beginning back in March 2020, the Covid-affected hearings went well beyond the planned 12 hearings, this being Week 17.
While much of the evidence being heard is from technical reports; the final session saw tino rangatiratanga expert Ani Mikaere (Ngāti Pareraukawa, Ngāti Raukawa) speaking on behalf of herself and her co-claimant, Whatarangi Winiata.
The basis of Ms Mikaere’s evidence is that Ngāti Raukawa has never ceded sovereignty to the Crown.
Also speaking at the hearing was former High Court Judge Sir Eddie Durie (Ngāti Kauwhata, Ngāti Raukawa, Rangitāne). He was one of the speakers in March 2020 with a statement for the Northern Claims of the confederation with interests that extend north from the Manawatū River to the Rangitīkei River. Sir Eddie has been an active participant in all of the hearings as they made their way south to Ōtaki.
The overall process since the original claim was made has taken 35 years so far. The Ngāti Raukawa Claim Wai 113 was lodged in 1989 by kaumātua – Whata Karaka Davis, Ngārongo Iwikātea Nicholson, Te Maharanui Jacob and Pita Richardson. They have now all passed on.
The confederation of iwi who occupy the Manawatū/Horowhenua/Kāpiti area are generally known as Ngāti Raukawa or Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga to differentiate themselves from their relatives Ngāti Raukawa who occupy the area around Tokoroa, Putaruru, Maungatautari and east towards the Kaimai/Mamaku Range. They comprise also hapū of Ngāti Kauwhata, Ngati Tukorehe, Ngāti Wehiwehi, Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Tūwharetoa.
These iwi originally inhabited the southern Waikato area but migrated to the Manawatū/Horowhenua/Ōtaki area alongside Ngāti Toa, Te Āti Awa and other iwi during the early 19th Century.
These iwi represent an estimated population of some 30,000 descendants who affiliate to 21 marae stretching from Bulls in the northwest, Te Reureu in the northeast to Ōtaki in the southwest.
