July 23, 2019
Rangitihi and Tūhourangi team up on Tarawera land
Te Mana o Ngāti Rangitihi Trust and Tūhourangi Tribal Authority have agreed to jointly negotiate with the Crown for the return of the lands at Waimangu and Otukapuarangi.
The lands, which have been at the centre of many historical disputes between the two iwi, were not available when Tūhourangi settled with the crown in 2009, and it objected when they put on the table for the Ngāti Rangitihi package.
Rangitihi chair Leith Comer says it's an opportunity for both iwi to put their differences behind them, despite the mamae of the past.
Tūhourangi chair Alan Skipwith says the iwi have shared whenua interests at Tarawera and they need to accept and respect each other's differing stories about their historical existence in the area.
Both iwi have a long-standing emotional connection with the area once world famous for the Pink and White Terraces, which were destroyed in the 1886 Tarawera eruption.
Since 2017 they have jointly owned Waimangu Volcanic Valley Limited, an eco-tourism experience south of Rotorua which includes sightseeing tours looking at the unique ecology, rare botany and fascinating geothermal features of the Valley including steaming volcanic crater lakes.
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