In October 2006, the Crown recognised the mandate of Ngāti Kōata along with other ‘Tainui Taranaki’ iwi to enter negotiations for a comprehensive Treaty of Waitangi Settlement. The Crown signed terms of negotiations with the mandated negotiator on 27 November 2007.

On 11 February 2009, the Crown and ‘Tainui Taranaki’ iwi, including Ngāti Kōata, signed a Letter of Agreement which formed the basis for this settlement. The Deed of Settlement was initialled on 7 October 2011 and signed on 21 December 2012. The settlement will be implemented following the passage of settlement legislation.

The Office of Treaty Settlements, with the support of the Department of Conservation, Land Information New Zealand, and other government agencies, represented the Crown in day-to-day negotiations.

The Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Hon Christopher Finlayson, represented the Crown in high-level negotiations with Ngāti Kōata.

Ngāti Kōata first came to Te Tau Ihu (the northern South Island) in the mid-1820s, after receiving a tuku of land from Tūtepourangi, and also as part of an invasion. Ngāti Kōata primarily settled at Rangitoto Island, Croisilles, Whakapuaka, and Whakatū.

In 1839 the New Zealand Company signed deeds with other iwi that purported to purchase the entire northern South Island. The following year several Ngāti Kōata chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangiat Rangitoto Island.

In 1842 the Company presented gifts to local Māori upon establishing its Nelson settlement. In 1844 a Crown-appointed commissioner investigated the Company’s purchases. He heard only one Māori witness in Nelson before suspending the inquiry to enable the Company to negotiate a settlement. Māori signed deeds of release in return for accepting payments described by the commissioner as gifts to assist settlement rather than payments for the land.

In 1845, on the commissioner’s recommendation, the Crown prepared a Company grant of 151,000 acres in Tasman and Golden Bays which would have reserved 15,100 acres for Māori. However, the Company objected to several aspects of this grant. In 1848 the Company accepted a new Crown grant for a larger area of land that reserved only 5,053 acres at Nelson and Motueka, and areas in the Wairau and Golden Bay.

Ngāti Kōata had negligible involvement in the administration of the Nelson and Motueka reserves, known as ‘Tenths’, which were leased to settlers to generate income that was spent on Māori purposes. From 1887 the Tenths were let under perpetually renewable leases. Rentals were infrequently reviewed and over time inflation reduced rental returns. During the twentieth century the Tenths were reduced by the compulsory acquisition of uneconomic shares and the sale of reserves.

In 1852 the Crown purchased the mineral-rich Pakawau block and paid only for its agricultural value. In 1853 the Crown signed the Waipounamu deed with other iwi, and purported to have purchased most of the remaining Māori land in Te Tau Ihu. Ngāti Kōata did not sign the deed but were to receive a share of the purchase money. The Crown used the 1853 deed as the basis for negotiations with resident Ngāti Kōata in 1856, which led to the alienation of most of their remaining interests for £100. Rangitoto Island was excluded from this purchase.

The reserves created for Ngāti Kōata from the Waipounamu sale were mostly inadequate for customary use or effective development. In 1883 and 1892 the Native Land Court awarded ownership of the reserves and Rangitoto Island to individual Ngāti Kōata. Over time, sales and successions to the titles made the lands increasingly fragmented and uneconomic.

In 1883 Ngati Koata participated in the Native Land Court’s title investigation of Whakapuaka. Ngati Koata claimed interests on the basis of the tuku and ongoing occupation. The Court deemed that Ngati Koata did not have interests and they were excluded from ownership. Ngati Koata were again excluded at a rehearing of the block in 1937.

By the late nineteenth century, some Ngāti Kōata were virtually landless. In 1894 the Crown allocated some landless Ngāti Kōata individuals land at Te Māpou and Te Raetihi, but did not issue titles to them until 1968.

Ngāti Kōata struggled to secure safe drinking water and social services on their reserves and Rangitoto Island well into the twentieth century. Many Ngāti Kōata came to Nelson for work, educational and health purposes. A Māori hostel in Nelson used by Ngāti Kōata families was frequently overcrowded resulting in unhygienic conditions.

By the end of the twentieth century most of Ngāti Kōata’s remaining land, including their reserves and Rangitoto Island, had been sold. Virtual landlessness has meant that Ngāti Kōata has lost connection and access to many of their traditional resources and sites, and the demise of a strong cultural base.

2(A) Relationship redress

The Deed of Settlement provides for the promotion of relationships between Ngāti Kōata and local authorities. Nelson City Council, Tasman District Council, Marlborough District Council and Buller District Council are encouraged to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with Ngāti Kōata.

2(B) Protocols

Protocols (known as Ngā Maunga Kōrērō in the Ngāti Kōata settlement) will be issued to encourage good working relationships on matters of cultural importance to Ngāti Kōata. Conservation, fisheries, taonga tūturu and minerals protocols will be issued.

2(C) Letters of introduction

The Deed of Settlement provides for the promotion of relationships between Ngāti Kōata and museums. This redress will be known as Ngā Wāwāhio and provides a link to the Tainui roots of Ngāti Kōata. The Crown will write letters of introduction to Te Papa Tongarewa, Canterbury Museum, Otago Museum and Nelson Provincial Museum.

2(D) River and Freshwater Advisory Committee

The Deed of Settlement provides for Ngāti Kōata to participate in an advisory committee providing input into local authority planning and decision making in relation to the management of rivers and fresh water under the Resource Management Act 1991, within the jurisdictions of Marlborough District Council, Nelson City Council and Tasman District Council.

2(E) Memorandum of Understanding

The settlement provides for a Memorandum of Understanding (known as Te Kupu Whakairo in the Deed of Settlement) to be created between Ngāti Kōata and the Department of Conservation. The Memorandum of Understanding will require that when the Department of Conservation undertake certain activities within Whangarae Bay, the trustees of Te Pātaka a Ngāti Kōata will be consulted.