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The group which coordinated the 183 Ngati Maniapoto claims in the Te Rohe Potae hearings wants the mandate to negotiate a settlement.
According to the application filed with the Office of Treaty Settlements, the Ngati Maniapoto Large Natural Grouping Mandate Body will be known as Te Kawau Maro for the negotiations.
Waitangi Tribunal hearings in the claim area finished in December, and there will be one last hearing in Wellington next month.
The Manipoto claims cover about 200 hapu and more than 57 marae from the King Country or Te Rohe Potae and the south Waikato region.
Ngati Raukawa, Ngati Tuwharetoa, tribes from Whanganui, Ngati Hikairo and other tribes affiliated to Tainui waka also had claims within Te Rohe Potae which need to be negotiated separately.
It is proposed Te Kawau Maro will include not more than 16 members, two each from the Maniapoto Maori Trust Board, Te Kaumatua Kaunihera o Maniapoto and the six claim regions.
A postal and internet ballot will be required before the mandate is confirmed.
Submissions on the draft mandate strategy need to be in to the OTS by February 8.
In 1886 the Te Rohe Potae covered 1,636,000 acres.
The Waitangi Trubunal heard about what Maniapoto call the Ohaki Tapu or sacred oath, consisting of agreements with the Crown recognising the full autonomy of the Rohe Potae chiefs over their lands.
These agreements were ignored once the area was opened up by the construction of the main trunk railroad, and much land was taken or lost.
According to the 2013 census there are 35,383 people affiliating to Maniapoto, with over 85 percent living outside the tribal rohe.
The tribal register includes just under 16,000 members in New Zealand and another 700 overseas.
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