Te Rarawa face opposition to settlement

Thursday, 26 January 2012

While Te Aupōuri prepare for three days of festivities and celebration with the signing of the Te Aupōuri Deed of Settlement scheduled for 26th January in Te Kao, Te Rarawa are faced with opposition to their settlement with claims that Te Hiku Kaumātua and Kuia are not happy.

Te Rūnanga O Te Rarawa Chairman, Haami Piripi has responded to these claims in the Northland Age.

NORTHLAND AGE - Thursday January 12, 2012

Far from being unhappy, iwi are showing more unity than ever over their collective negotiation says Te Runanga chairman
 
Claims that Te Hiku elders are unhappy with the deeds of settlement initialled by Te Rarawa, Te Aupouri and Ngai Takoto (Iwi 'unhappy' with deeds of settlement, Northland Age January 10) have been rejected by Te Runanga o Te Rarawa chairman Haami Piripi as misleading.
 
Only one iwi had convened a meeting, attended by some individual rangatira but not representatives mandated to speak on behalf of any other iwi besides Ngâti Kahu, and, far from "some kind of brewing discontent among the iwi of Te Hiku o Te Ika" there had never been so much unity among the other four iwi which began, three years ago, to collectively negotiate their respective claims.
 
"This joint approach to negotiations has produced the best outcomes possible for each of the iwi concerned, and a renewed respect for each iwi's issues and mana. Even where final agreement has not yet been reached the relationships remain buoyant and full of possibility," Mr Piripi said.
 
Current attempts by the Ngâti Kahu Rûnanga-a-Iwi to undermine the passage of the Hiku iwi settlement process was reminiscent of the approach taken by their leadership to sabotage the old Muriwhenua Rûnanga and the negotiations led by Matiu Rata 20 years ago.
 
"Once again we have become afflicted by the 'It's never enough' syndrome which has historically cursed Muriwhenua and Hiku negotiations," he said.
 
"It usually expresses itself through an ill-informed audience who have been fed half-truths to stoke up already suspicious minds. Sometimes it emerges through a voice of passion which has not been privy to the process and therefore hasn't quite got the picture up the right way. Scaremongering is so easy to do in a climate of colonisation and a dangerously high state of socio-economic deprivation resulting in utter dependence.
 
"People like me were born into this environment, and nurtured by elders, many of whom have now passed away. Supported by them, I have played an active role in the Te Rarawa and Muriwhenua claims since 1981 and have held an elected and mandated position as negotiator for over 15 years. In this time I have worked with numerous leaders, negotiators and commentators and consider myself well qualified to play a leadership role in progressing the Te Rarawa and Te Hiku o Te Ika claims.
 
"I have come to understand the hard graft that needs to be put into Treaty negotiations in order to achieve a successful result. It is not simply a wish list, it is a torrid negotiation. The iwi negotiators, including our legal advisers, were first-class, each eminently qualified, but most importantly solidly mandated to undertake the negotiation on behalf of their respective iwi.
 
"We found our greatest strength in total unity, which began to erode with the break away by Ngâti Kahu and has been continued by the efforts of certain Ngâti Kahu employees to undermine the calibre of the Hiku iwi deeds of settlement.
 
"In 2012 we have again reached a crossroad where a group of mandated and well qualified negotiators have worked stoically for nearly ten years to produce the current deeds."
 
The proposed settlement initiatives began almost 30 years ago, via a process which the Runanga had underwritten and the elected negotiators were holding faith with. The assertions being promulgated by "these latter day experts" in relation to the settlement deeds of other iwi was mischievous "to say the least." The deeds for two of the iwi were yet to be taken to those iwi to be ratified, yet Ngâti Kahu leaders had persisted in precipitating iwi rights by filling the house with their korero.
 
"To takahia other iwi in this way reveals the truth about the intent of the strategy to subvert the deed ratification process by Ngâti Kahu," Mr Piripi added.
 
"I believe that we as elected negotiators have the mandate and responsibility to report back to our iwi on the position that we havereached as negotiators and why. Bombarding media space with accusatory statements and inferences is a clear indication of intent, especially as it emerged to be a destructive strategy set adrift by the Ngâti Kahu Rûnanga-a-Iwi hierarchy.
 
"The meeting described (on Tuesday) was called in response to a hostile legal challenge by the Ngâti Kahu Rûnanga-a-Iwi to halt the Te Hiku iwi deeds of settlement."
 
The debate about the deeds needed to take place amongst the iwi concerned, not by those described by Mr Piripi as uninformed outside commentators.
 
"In many ways it is inappropriate for me to discuss via the media the specific pros and cons of the proposed settlements," he said.
 
"This needs to be shared in the right way with the right people before sharing the details with all and sundry.
 
"For Te Rarawa the place for this debate is during the iwi hui that are being held during the ratification process for the deed. We've set up a website with details about the Te Rarawa deed of settlement and how this process will work (www.tiriti.terarawa.iwi.nz)
 
"It is important for the public to understand that the negotiation process that was undertaken was done so with great rigour and highly-qualified teams of negotiators. We owe it to them, and those who mandated them, to hear, with an uncluttered mind, what they have to say. To settle for anything less would be to short-change the process and betray the hard work of our elected representatives.
 
"At a time like this we must not waver in the face of our old foes disunity, jealousy and fragmentation. Instead we must maintain a faith in each other and the process that we have used to facilitate these negotiations and the resulting deeds of settlement. Back to top