August 10, 2014
Ngati Hine story told to tribunal
A Ngati Hine leader says the hapu’s presentation to the Waitangi Tribunal last week will make it harder for the Crown to negotiate without revisiting the question of mandate.
Erima Henare says the tribe was determined to tell its story to the tribunal before it considered the question of negotiations.
Ngati Hine has refused to participate in Tuhoronuku, the body the government says has the mandate to negotiate a settlement of Ngapuhi claims.
Mr Henare says as one of the first groups to engage with European settlers, Ngati Hine were hit hard by the Old Land Claims, when land it gifted with conditions to missionaries and settlers under the custom of tuku was seized by the crown.
"Old land claims, Native Land Court, Public Works Act, Rating Act, those were really the key points to put across to the crown this week. All that stuff that's vitally important but not to the extent of those issues like loss of language, loss of rongoa, was thrown into the mix but the key issues are the taking of those lands by various ways," he says.
Mr Henare says the land grabs continued into the 1950s and 60s, when Part 24 of the Maori Land Act was used to take land for development, clear off those who lived there and load the properties up with debt.
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