An account of the historical background agreed between the Crown and Te Arawa is included in the Deed of Settlement, along with acknowledgements of Crown breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi and a Crown Apology for those breaches.

The Te Arawa Māori Trust Board lodged the Te Arawa lakes claim (Wai 240) with the Waitangi Tribunal in April 1987. Rather than proceed with a hearing, Te Arawa entered preliminary discussions with the Crown in 1989 for the direct negotiation of their historical lakes claims. In September 1997, the Crown agreed to negotiate Te Arawa’s lakes claims separately from their other historical claims. In December 1998 the Crown recognised the Te Arawa Māori Trust Board’s mandate to negotiate the settlement of the Te Arawa lakes claims. Terms of Negotiation were subsequently signed in March 1999.

In May 2001, in response to a request from the Trust Board, the Crown made an offer for the settlement of the Te Arawa lakes claims. The Trust Board rejected the offer. The Minister of Māori Affairs advised Te Arawa on 29 May 2001 that the Minister would like to negotiate a possible capitalisation of the annuity paid in relation to the lakes, and resolution of any remaining annuity issues. In new Terms of Negotiation signed by the Crown and the Board in July 2001, the parties agreed the settlement would address both Te Arawa’s historical lakes claims and any remaining annuity issues. In December 2003, the Trust Board agreed in principle to a revised Crown offer for the settlement of Te Arawa’s historical grievances relating to the lakes and any remaining annuity issues. The Crown and mandated representatives of Te Arawa initialled a draft Deed of Settlement on 15 October 2004. The Deed was then ratified by the members of Te Arawa through a postal ballot, and signed on 18 December 2004. The Deed is now subject only to the establishment by Te Arawa of a suitable governance entity to receive the settlement redress, and the passage of settlement legislation.

Te Arawa was represented in negotiations for their lakes claims by the Te Arawa Māori Trust Board. The Trust Board is chaired by Anaru Rangiheuea, and day-to-day negotiations were managed by negotiators appointed by the Trust Board. The Office of Treaty Settlements, with the support of the Department of Conservation, Land Information New Zealand, Te Puni Kōkiri and other government agencies, represented the Crown in day-to-day negotiations. The Minister in Charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Hon Margaret Wilson, and Minister of Māori Affairs, Hon Parekura Horomia, represented the Crown in high-level negotiations with Te Arawa.

In 1840, lakes Rotoehu, Rotomā, Rotoiti, Rotorua, Ōkataina, Ōkareka, Rerewhakaaitu, Tarawera, Rotomahana, Tikitapu, Ngāhewa, Tutaeinanga, Ngāpouri and Ōkaro provided food, shelter, economic resources and primary transport routes for Te Arawa. By 1880 Te Arawa was playing a major role in the developing tourism industry in the area. Little land had been sold to settlers and Te Arawa continued to exercise significant control over the lakes.

Trout and other foreign fish were introduced into the lakes from the 1870s, seriously depleting the indigenous fisheries and forcing Te Arawa to rely increasingly on the introduced species. The introduction of a fishing licence regime from the late 1880s and the ongoing propagation of trout drew protests and petitions from Te Arawa in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1908 the Government decided to legislate to address issues Te Arawa had raised over a number of years regarding the depletion of indigenous fish, fishing licences and the resulting hardship experienced by some Te Arawa. The resulting legislation provided Te Arawa with 20 fishing licences at a nominal fee.

In 1909, following what Te Arawa regarded as a series of challenges to their customary rights to the lakes, Te Arawa decided to seek clarity of the lakes’ ownership in the courts. The Crown disputed Te Arawa’s claim to ownership of the lakes.

In 1912 the Supreme Court upheld Te Arawa’s rights to have their claims to lake ownership investigated by the Native Land Court and in 1913 Te Arawa filed an application with the Native Land Court for an investigation into the title of the lakes. Following lengthy delays the Court began hearing Te Arawa’s application for title to Lakes Rotorua and Rotoiti in 1918. After several weeks of hearing part of Te Arawa’s evidence the hearings were further adjourned. In 1920, on the eve of the case being resumed, the Crown approached Te Arawa to negotiate a settlement of their respective claims of ownership of the lakes.

In 1922 Te Arawa and the Crown reached an out of court agreement regarding the ownership litigation. Under the agreement Te Arawa admitted that the fee simple of the lakes was vested in the Crown. In return, the Crown admitted the rights of Te Arawa to their ancient fishing rights and the burial reserves in all the lakes. The Crown also agreed to provide Te Arawa with 40 licences to fish for trout at a nominal fee and an annuity of £6,000, to be paid to a Board to be established for the benefit of the Te Arawa tribe. There was no provision in the agreement for the annuity to be reviewed. The agreement also provided for a special Board to be appointed for the control of the surroundings of Lake Rotokakahi.

The agreement was enacted in part by the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act 1922, which declared the lakes to be the property of the Crown and extinguished any customary title that Te Arawa had to the lakes. The Act also reserved all the islands in the lakes to Te Arawa, protected Te Arawa’s right to take indigenous fish in the lakes for their own use and established the Arawa District Trust Board (later the Arawa Mäori Trust Board).

The Trust Board gifted a proportion of its annuity to the Crown during the Depression and the Second World War. The material value of the annuity diminished over time because of inflation. The Crown raised its value in 1977, from $12,000 to $18,000. The Crown and, through legislation, local authorities have increasingly assumed responsibility for regulation of activities on the lakes and for discharges impacting on the lakes. Te Arawa consider that the environmental degradation of the lakes has affected the mana and wairua of the lakes.

Recognition of Te Arawa’s traditional, historical, cultural and spiritual association with the lakes covered by the settlement. This includes:

Transfer of Lakebeds 

Title to 13 lakebeds will be returned to Te Arawa. The title includes the ownership of the lakebeds (including plants attached to the lakebeds) and subsoil (referred to as the Te Arawa stratum). The title specifically excludes the water column (the space occupied by the water) and the airspace, which will remain in Crown ownership (referred to as the Crown stratum).

Lake Ōarao 

The Crown has written to the Rotorua District Council encouraging them to come to an agreement with Te Arawa regarding the future status, management and ownership of the 14th lake, Lake Ökaro, which is currently vested in the Council.

Statutory Acknowledgement 

This registers Te Arawa’s special association with an area. Statutory Acknowledgements are recognised under the Resource Management Act and the Historic Places Act.

One Statutory Acknowledgement will cover those parts of the 13 lakes remaining in Crown ownership (i.e. the water column and airspace).

Placenames

The Deed of Settlement will provide for the official amendment of various place names relating to the lakes. The spelling of some names will be changed (e.g. Awahou Point to Te Awahou Point), some sites without official names will be named (e.g. Kaikaitāhuna Bay), and some names will become dual names (e.g. Lake Rotorua/Te Rotorua nui a Kahumatamomoe).

The long form of the dual names will be acknowledged as the ‘official’ place names, but the short form of these place names will be accepted as remaining in common usage and can be used in publications and databases.

Relationship Agreement 

The Deed provides for Te Arawa and the Crown to enter into a relationship agreement that will outline the respective rights of the two stratum owners and describe how they will consider applications to erect new structures or undertake any activity that traverses both strata and requires the owners’ consent by law. The Crown will be represented in this relationship by Land Information New Zealand.

Strategic Management of the Lakes 

The Deed will provide for the settlement legislation to deem the Rotorua Lakes Strategy Group, currently known as the Rotorua Lakes Strategy Joint Committee, to be a joint committee under the Local Government Act 2002. Legislation will provide for the Group’s permanence, Te Arawa’s membership as of right, and the Group’s purpose, which is to contribute to promoting the sustainable management of the Rotorua lakes and their catchments for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations, while recognising and providing for the traditional relationship of Te Arawa with their ancestral lakes.

Protocols with Government Departments and Third parties 

The Deed of Settlement also provides for the establishment of protocols to enhance a good working relationship, on cultural matters of importance to Te Arawa, between Te Arawa and the Department of Conservation, the Ministry of Fisheries, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and the Ministry for the Environment. The Crown has written to the Bay of Plenty Conservation Board, Eastern Regional Fish and Game Council, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, and Transit New Zealand, encouraging a relationship between these agencies and Te Arawa.

Indigenous Plants and Paru 

The Crown has written to both Environment Bay of Plenty and Environment Waikato encouraging them to allow cultural harvest of indigenous plants and paru (pigmented mud) in their regional plans.

Fisheries

The Deed of Settlement provides for the making of regulations to allow Te Arawa to manage the non-commercial fishing of certain indigenous species in the 14 lakes.

The Settlement also includes a capitalised sum of $400,000 to provide for the purchase of 200 fishing licences per year from the Eastern Regional Fish and Game Council.