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A leading Ngāpuhi wahine says whakapapa was being manipulated to achieve a no vote in the hapū endorsement process for the Ngāpuhi mandate.
Mere Mangu says the hapū endorsement process being used for the first time in the Ngāpuhi settlement process as a result of a Waitangi Tribunal finding was open to abuse.
She believes some of the people taking part in her own hapū vote didn’t belong.
"It's been a very tough journey and it's been a very eye opening journey for a lot of us in terms of how people can massage the whakapapa, shall we say, in order that others can fit into your particular hapū and also the accommodation of multi-hapū hui when the people are the same in three or even five hapū," Ms Mangu says.
While the official count hasn’t been released, opponents say more than 70 percent of Ngāpuhi hapū voted to reject the Tūhono mandate proposal.
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