A Ngāti Rereahu spokesperson says his iwi wants to manage any land in its rohe returned under the Te Rohe Pōtae settlement, rather than have it owned by a post-settlement governance entity for all of Ngāti Maniapoto.
The issue was debated at a Maniapoto Māori Trust Board special general meeting in Te Kuiti on the weekend, with members having until this Friday to vote on a change to the board's mandate.
Jack Te Reti from Te Whakaminenga o Rereahu says his iwi has a distinct identity within Ngāti Maniapoto that is not reflected in the settlement arrangements.
He says while the board intends to return customary redress land to mana whenua, it will place all commercial redress land under the PSGE.
"It's not uncommon of what we are all currently seeing how the crown is treating a lot of iwi and hapū right now where the original owners have come back and said 'you've made a mistake.' What we are trying to do is avoid that mistake at the beginning and work between us to fight the crown but we cannot accept the manner in which the board is doing this," he says.
Jack Te Reti says Ngāti Rerehau, Ngāti Hinerangi and other hapū have been swamped by the crown's large natural groupings policy.
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