December 19, 2017
Paoa makes peace with Tauranga iwi
Ngati Paoa has followed its concession to Ngati Whatua Orakei with what it’s calling a kawenata tapu with Tauranga iwi Ngai Te Rangi and Ngati Ranginui.
Chair Gary Thompson says the agreement signed at Maungatapu marae in Tauranga on Saturday was about iwi supporting each other based on their own tikanga.
Earlier this month Ngati Paoa and the Orakei hapu signed an agreement to consult where there interests overlapped, with Ngati Whatua considered the leading mana whenua in central Auckland while Ngati Paoa having primacy in east Auckland.
What the effect will be of the Tauranga agreement is unclear, as Ngati Paoa has few connections in the rohe.
But it could put it offside with other members of the Hauraki Collective, whose proposed settlement includes redress based on Waitangi Tribunal findings the crown deprived them of the interests they held historically in the Katikati-Te Puna area.
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