December 13, 2017
Ngapuhi hapu chart path to co-operation
Te Kotahitanga o Nga Hapu o Ngapuhi co-chair Pita Tipene says he doesn’t expect the crown to try to conclude a settlement at the hapu rather than the iwi level.
Mr Tipene welcomed Treaty Negotiations Minister Andrew Little’s visit to the north last weekend to hear the views of hapu spokespeople about the way settlement talks could be put back on track, after a two-year delay in negotiations while questions about representation of hapu were resolved.
He says a hapu by hapu settlement is unrealistic.
While hapu hold their own sovereignty, they want to work together.
"Some don’t but for those who do want to work together, because aspects of overlapping claims mean that we are going to have to work together, and there are examples in other parts of the country where either tribes or hapu have squabbled over overlapping claims and we want to work together up here," Mr Tipene says.
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