The country's largest tribe will soon vote on whether it'll back a mandate to negotiate on a long-stalled settlement. But there are signs that the wheels are starting to fall off.
Ngāti Hine spokesman, Wassie Shortland says “Basically hapu in Ngāpuhi do not have the kind of trust in each other let alone the Crown to advance the settlement.”
Ngāpuhi has been struggling for a decade to decide who has its authority to negotiate a settlement with the crown.
“We've had three rounds of hui, at every stage there were changes made to the proposed mandate. It is now significantly different from what it was a year ago,” says Treaty Negotiations Minister, Andrew Little.
Settlement is complex, and the proposed mandate reflects this, in it 110 hapu will be split amongst six regional bodies all with the power to directly negotiate with the Crown - but that's not forgetting an additional central body with the exact same power.
One of the largest hapu says it's pulling out of the whole process because it's not getting enough power.
“The proponents of it would say we've done everything and I don't deny that they've made some huge shifts, on the core matters they've lacked the courage,” says Mr Shortland.
There is criticism too that of a tribe of 125,000 people, only two thousand actually participated in the hui.
“I think the consultation process that's been set in place and funded by the minister has been really self-serving. They're just rushing this through to try and get over the line,” says Te Uri Taniwha hapu spokeswoman, Hinerangi Himiona.
I think that's pretty cynical actually - this is an issue that has been debated and talked about within Ngāpuhi for the best part of 11 years now,” says Mr Little.
Some hapu are now planning to campaign against ratification, saying they deserve better and can do better.
But the government warns it won't revisit the issue if the tribe spurns the mandate, likely continuing a history of iwi crown division in the north.
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