September 01, 2023
Taranaki to get legal personality
Hundreds of people are expected at Waitara’s Owae Marae today to witness the recognition of Taranaki mounga as a legal person.
The settlement for the mounga was signed in March and the ratification vote by members of Taranaki’s eight iwi drew 98 percent support.
Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa chair Liana Poutu says the mounga will be formally acknowledged as a Taranaki tupuna and protected under a joint iwi-crown management plan.
“The plan will much better represent us as uri, but also have a much better focus on the health and well being of our mounga going forward. So we’re excited about that,” she says.
Today’s event comes 158 years to the day after the 1865 confiscation of 1.2 million hectares of Taranaki lands, including the maunga.