In October 2006, the Crown recognised the mandate of Ngāti Rārua along with other ‘Tainui Taranaki’ iwi to enter negotiations for a comprehensive Treaty of Waitangi Settlement. The Crown signed terms of negotiations with the umbrella entity Tainui Taranaki ki te Tonga Limited, which included the Ngāti Rārua Iwi Trust, on 27 November 2007.

On 11 February 2009, the Crown and ‘Tainui Taranaki’ iwi, including Ngāti Rārua, 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 13 April 2013. 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 Rārua.

Ngāti Rārua came to Te Tau Ihu o te Waka a Maui (the Northern South Island) in the late 1820s. Ngāti Rārua established pā and kainga at Te Tai Tapu, Golden Bay, Tasman Bay and Wairau.

In 1839 the New Zealand Company signed deeds with Māori that purported to purchase the entire northern South Island. No Ngāti Rārua resident in western Te Tau Ihu signed the Company deeds. In 1842 the Company presented gifts to local Māori, including Ngāti Rārua, upon establishing its Nelson settlement. Ngāti Rārua expressed an interest in European settlement but denied that the 1839 transactions had effected a sale of their land.

In 1844 a Crown-appointed commissioner investigated the Company’s purchases. He heard from only one Māori witness in Nelson, who was Ngāti Rārua, before suspending the inquiry to enable the company to negotiate a settlement. Local 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. A share of the money was set aside for Golden Bay Ngāti Rārua not present at the commissioner’s hearing or arbitration.

In 1845, on the commissioner’s recommendation, the Crown prepared a grant to the New Zealand Company of 151,000 acres of land 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 Wairau and Golden Bay.

Ngāti Rārua had negligible involvement in the administration of the Nelson and Motueka reserves, known as ‘Tenths’. Most were leased to settlers to generate income that was spent on Māori purposes. In the 1850s and 1860s the Crown allocated a number of Motueka Tenths sections to Ngāti Rārua for their occupation. However, ownership of these lands was not granted separately to Ngāti Rārua. From 1887 the Tenths were leased under perpetually renewable leases. Rentals were infrequently reviewed and over time inflation reduced real rental returns. During the twentieth century the Tenths were reduced by the compulsory acquisition of uneconomic shares and the sale of reserves.

In 1847 the Crown purchased the Wairau district from three North Island chiefs. No other right holders, including Ngāti Rārua, were consulted or involved in the transaction. In 1852, the Crown purchased the mineral-rich Pakawau block, paying only for its agricultural value. The 1853 Te Waipounamu deed purported to purchase all remaining land in the region. Ngāti Rārua in western Te Tau Ihu did not sign the deed, but were to receive a share of the purchase money. Ngāti Rarua protested the Crown’s actions but it was not until 1855 that the Crown met with resident Māori to finalise the purchase. During these negotiations the Crown applied pressure on Ngāti Rārua, including presenting their land as already sold. Ngāti Rārua and another iwi were paid £600 for their remaining interests in Te Waipounamu. The reserves created by the Crown for Ngāti Rārua from the Waipounamu purchase, particularly at Wairau and Pukatea, were generally inadequate for customary use or agricultural farming.

Ngāti Rārua had excluded the 88,350 acre Te Tai Tapu block from the Waipounamu sale. In 1873 the Crown took effective control of Te Tai Tapu to regulate gold mining on the land. However, Ngāti Rārua obtained little financial benefit from the arrangement. In 1883 Ngāti Rārua sold the block. By the late nineteenth century, Ngāti Rārua were virtually landless. At this time the Crown allocated landless Ngāti Rārua individuals land on Stewart Island but never granted them title to the land.

In the decades following the major land purchases of the mid-nineteenth century, the socio-economic position of Ngāti Rārua and the Māori population of Te Tau Ihu became characterised by marginal economic status, poor health and low educational attainment.

The cultural redress recognises the traditional, historical and spiritual association of Ngāti Rārua with places and sites owned by the Crown within the Ngāti Rārua rohe. This allows Ngāti Rārua and the Crown to protect and enhance the conservation values associated with these sites.

Vesting of sites

The settlement provides for eight sites to be vested only in Ngāti Rārua and eight sites jointly vested in Ngāti Rārua and one or more other iwi with claims in Te Tau Ihu, totalling Summary of the Ngāti Rārua settlement approximately 102.93 hectares. The vesting of these sites is subject to specific conditions including protection of conservation values and public access.

Sites to be vested in Ngāti Rārua are:

• Wairau Pā, approximately 1.46 hectares
• Rārangi (Ngāti Rārua), approximately 0.25 hectares
• Kawatiri Confluence, approximately 2 hectares
• Glenhope (Kawatiri), approximately 3.4 hectares
• Te Tai Tapu (Snake Creek), approximately 10 hectares
• Coombe Rocks, approximately 1.6 hectares
• Pah Point (Whanganui Inlet), approximately 1 hectare
• Waikutakuta/Robin Hood Bay, approximately 0.08 hectares .

Sites to be jointly vested in Ngāti Rārua and one or more other iwi with Te Tau Ihu claims are:

• Pūponga Farm Triangle Flat, approximately 0.2 hectares
• Pūponga Farm Cape House, approximately 5 hectares • Puketawai, approximately 11.9473 hectares
• Tokomaru/Mount Robertson, approximately 49.6 hectares
• Horahora-kākahu, approximately 1.2141 hectares
• Pukatea/Whites Bay, approximately 1.2 hectares
• Pūponga Point Pā site, approximately 14 hectares
• Mātangi Āwhio, approximately 0.2061 hectares.

Vest and Gift Back

The settlement provides for two sites – Kaka Point and Te Tai Tapu – totalling approximately 28,602.0209 hectares, to jointly vest in Ngāti Rārua and certain other Te Tau Ihu iwi on settlement date and then revest back in the Crown seven days later as a gift from those iwi to the people of New Zealand.

Overlay Classification

An overlay classification (known as Parirau Whakaruru in the Ngāti Rārua settlement) acknowledges the traditional, cultural, spiritual and historical association of Ngāti Rārua with certain sites of significance. Overlay classifications apply to conservation land and requires the New Zealand Conservation Authority (and any relevant conservation board) to have particular regard to Ngāti Rārua values and protection principles. The settlement provides for the following overlay classifications:

• Te Waikoropupū Springs Scenic Reserve
• Farewell Spit Nature Reserve
• Heaphy Track (northern portion)
• Wairau Bar and Wairau Lagoons (part of the Conservation Area – Wairau Diversion Mouth and part of the Wairau Lagoons Wetland Management Reserve).

Statutory Acknowledgements and Deeds of Recognition

A Statutory Acknowledgement registers the special association Ngāti Rārua has with an area, and will be included in the settlement legislation. Statutory Acknowledgements are recognised under the Resource Management Act 1991 and Historic Places Act 1993.

The acknowledgement requires that consent authorities provide Ngāti Rārua with summaries of all resource consent applications that may affect the areas named in the acknowledgements. Deeds of Recognition oblige the Crown to consult with Ngāti Rārua and have regard to their views regarding the special association Ngāti Rārua has with a site. They also specify the nature of the input of Ngāti Rārua into management of those areas by the Department of Conservation.

The Crown offers a Statutory Acknowledgement and Deed of Recognition over the following areas:

• Maungatapu
• Lake Rotoiti, Nelson Lakes National Park
• Lake Rotoroa, Nelson Lakes National Park
• Abel Tasman Monument in Abel Tasman National Park
• Westhaven (Te Tai Tapu) Marine Reserve and Westhaven (Whanganui Inlet) Wildlife Management Reserve (Statutory Acknowledgement only)
• Parapara Peak
• Pukeone/Mount Campbell
• Wharepapa/Arthur Range
• Para Swamp Wildlife Reserve
• West of Separation Point/Te Matau
• Wairau Lagoons and Te Pokohiwi/Boulder Bank Historic Reserve (Statutory Acknowledgment only)
• Kaiteriteri Scenic Reserve
• Wairau River Diversion Conservation Area
• Wairau River, marginal strips
• Maitai River and its tributaries
• Wairau River, Omaka River, and Ōpaoa River and their tributaries
• Waimea River, Wairoa River, and Wai-iti River and their tributaries
• Motueka River and its tributaries
• Aorere River and its tributaries
• Riuwaka River, and Resurgence, and its tributaries
• Paturau River and its tributaries
• Anatori River and its tributaries
• Buller River (northern portion) and its tributaries
• Anaweka River and its tributaries
• Kaka Point (Statutory Acknowledgement only).

The Crown offers a Coastal Statutory Acknowledgement over the Te Tau Ihu coastal marine area.

Statutory Acknowledgments and Deeds of Recognition are non-exclusive redress, meaning more than one iwi can have a Statutory Acknowledgment or Deed of Recognition over the same site.

Place name changes

The Te Tau Ihu settlements provide for 53 existing geographic names to change and 12 sites which do not currently have official names to be assigned geographic names. The full list of place name changes is included in the Ngāti Rārua Deed of Settlement.

Crown payment

In recognition of the shared commitment of Ngāti Rārua and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu to a positive, co-operative and enduring relationship the Crown will pay Ngāti Rārua $500,000.

Mineral Fossicking

The settlement provides for the river beds within a specified area to be searched for natural material with the permission of the trustees of the Ngāti Rārua Settlement Trust.

Relationship Redress

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

Protocols

Protocols will be issued to encourage good working relationships on matters of cultural importance to Ngāti Rārua. Conservation, fisheries, taonga tūturu and mineral protocols will be issued.

Letters of introduction

The Deed of Settlement provides for the promotion of relationships between Ngāti Rārua and museums. The Crown will write letters of introduction to 182 museums across New Zealand.

River and Freshwater Advisory Committee

The Deed of Settlement provides for Ngāti Rārua 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.

This redress recognises the losses suffered by Ngāti Rārua arising from the breaches by the Crown of its Treaty of Waitangi obligations. It will provide Ngāti Rārua with resources to assist them in developing their economic and social well-being.

Financial Redress

Ngāti Rārua will receive financial redress of $11,760,000 in recognition of all their historical claims. Interest that has been accumulating since February 2009, when their Letter of Agreement was signed, will also be paid.

Commercial redress

Ngāti Rārua will purchase ten properties at settlement date, six of which will be leased back to the Crown. Ngāti Rārua have a further nine deferred selection properties that are available for purchase by Ngāti Rārua for three years after settlement date.

Ngāti Rārua will have the ability to purchase more than 11,793 hectares of the licensed Crown forest land in Te Tau Ihu, some of which is to be jointly owned with other iwi in Te Tau Ihu. Through the licensed Crown forest land Ngāti Rārua will receive a further (approximately) $7.75 million in accumulated rentals, currently held by the Crown Forestry Rental Trust.

Ngāti Rārua will have a right of first refusal over a number of listed sites for a period of 169 years from settlement date. They will also have a right of first refusal over Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology for 169 years.

Ngāti Rārua will have a right of first refusal over a number of Crown properties in Te Tau Ihu if they become surplus to the Crown’s requirements. This right continues for 100 years from the settlement date.