March 10, 2015
Kaitiakitanga key to Tuwharetoa deal
The manager of Ngati Tuwharetoa’s claim negotiations, Gina Rangi, says kaitiakitanga is fundamental to the tribe’s proposed settlement.
An agreement in principle was signed last Friday, with details to be hammered out over the next year between the crown and lead negotiators George Asher and Sir Michael Cullen.
Ms Rangi says the bulk of the tribe’s commercial redress came through the Central North Island Forestry Settlement, so the agreement is focused on cultural redress.
It provides for the creation of a Taupo Catchment Entity giving the iwi a say in water and land management, and separate bodies to deal with local authorities and with the Department of Conservation.
"DOC are the biggest landowner in our rohe. They have multiple waahi tapu sites within the land they manage, so we didn't want to pick up individual tiny little pa sites and urupa, we wanted kaitiakitanga over the whole of it so that relationship with DoC and being able to be good kaitiaki is fundamental to this settlement," Ms Rangi says.
There will be some specific reserves and urupa coming over that are of importance to individual hapu within Tuwharetoa.
There is also $2.5 million for a whare taonga to look after tribal artefacts, and money to clean up Te Wai U o Tuwharetoa, a spring near Kawerau affected by waste dumpred from the Tasman pulp and paper mill.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH GINA RANGI CLICK ON THE LINK
https://secure.zeald.com/uma/play_podcast?podlink=MjcwNDk=
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