Ngāti Rangi Treaty Settlement moving forward

Ngāti Rangi Trust says it is excited to be moving forward with settling the historical Treaty of Waitangi claims of its people, having now initialled its Deed of Settlement at Parliament.

A small group of Ngāti Rangi representatives gathered on Thursday 17 August to witness the initialling of the Deed, which Lead Negotiator Che Wilson says is an important step in the process.

“This is part of our journey to have the Crown both recognise and right the Treaty breaches that Ngāti Rangi suffered,” says Mr Wilson.

“Following on from our acceptance of an Agreement in Principle in March, our iwi is moving forward with positivity.

“There is still a lot of work to be done but we are delighted to be at this stage now, and we’re looking forward to taking the Deed to our people for their consideration.”

The Deed of Settlement is subject to ratification by Ngāti Rangi members, with a voting process likely to occur in late September through to early October.

Mr Wilson says all those with Ngāti Rangi whakapapa should register with Ngāti Rangi Trust to be involved in this historically-significant process and vote on the settlement.

“All our whānau need to be involved in this,” he says.

“If Ngāti Rangi uri show sufficient support through the ratification vote, our settlement will be able to go ahead and will be introduced to Parliament to become law.

“This is history in the making for our people, who have waited so long to have our historical grievances acknowledged and be able to move forward with mana.”

Ngāti Rangi will also participate in collective negotiations regarding Tongariro National Park, due to commence next year.

For more information, visit www.ngatirangi.com