Crown Acknowledgement and apology to Ngai Te Rangi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
3.1 The Crown acknowledges that until now it has failed to deal with the long-standing grievances of Ngāi Te Rangi in an appropriate way. The Crown hereby recognises the legitimacy of the historical grievances of Ngāi Te Rangi and makes the following acknowledgements.
3.2 The Crown acknowledges that, prior to 1864, Ngāi Te Rangi continued to manage their lands and resources according to their tikanga and were engaging in the New Zealand economy.
3.3 The Crown acknowledges that it was ultimately responsible for the outbreak of war in Tauranga in 1864, and the resulting loss of life, and its actions were a breach of the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles. The Crown acknowledges that a number of Ngāi Te Rangi were killed and wounded in battles at Pukehinahina and Te Ranga, but that Ngāi Te Rangi were faithful to the rules of engagement they set down prior to the fighting, and provided aid to wounded Crown soldiers.
3.4 The Crown also acknowledges that Ngāi Te Rangi chief Hori Tupaea was detained without being charged or tried and was released on the condition that he declared his allegiance to the Crown. The Crown acknowledges that the confiscation at Tauranga and the subsequent Tauranga District Lands Acts 1867 and 1868 were indiscriminate, unjust and a breach of the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles. The Crown also acknowledges that:
3.4.1 it determined and imposed the location of the 50,000 acre block that was confiscated by the Crown;
3.4.2 the confiscated block included Ngāi Te Rangi lands; and
3.4.3 lands in the Tauranga Confiscation District returned or reserved to Ngāi Te Rangiwere in the form of individualised title rather than Māori customary title.
3.5 The Crown also acknowledges that land on the Te Papa Peninsula which today constitutes the Tauranga central business district was included within the confiscation district, and was conveyed to the Crown by a private institution despite this institution previously insisting that it would always hold this land for the benefit of Māori.
3.6 The Crown further acknowledges that the confiscation and the subsequent Tauranga District Lands Acts 1867 and 1868:
3.6.1 had a devastating effect on the welfare and economy of Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngā Pōtiki;
3.6.2 deprived Ngāi Te Rangi of wāhi tapu, access to significant parts of the cultural landscapes and seascapes, and opportunities for development at Tauranga; and
3.6.3 restricted Ngāi Te Rangi in the exercise of mana and rangatiratanga over their lands and resources within Tauranga Moana.
3.7 The Crown acknowledges that it failed to actively protect Ngāi Te Rangi interests in lands they wished to retain when it initiated the purchase of the Te Puna and Katikati blocks in 1864 with only nine members of Ngāi Te Rangi and completed the purchase. despite the opposition of other Ngāi Te Rangi chiefs. The Crown acknowledges that this failure was in breach of the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles.
3.8 The Crown acknowledges that:
3.8.1 it imposed the individualisation of titles by the Tauranga Land Commissioners on Ngāi Te Rangi, and did not consult Ngāi Te Rangi on the introduction of native land legislation;
3.8.2 the reserves set aside in the 50,000 acre and Te Puna-Katikati blocks were
mainly awarded to just a few Ngāi Te Rangi individuals;
3.8.3 the Tauranga Land Commissioners took many years to complete their investigations of the ownership of land;
3.8.4 those Ngāi Te Rangi lands within the confiscation district which
were returned to Māori were granted by the Crown to individual owners;
3.8.5 the awarding of titles to individuals by the Tauranga Land Commissioners and the Native Land Court made Ngāi Te Rangi lands more susceptible to partition, fragmentation and alienation; and
3.8.6 this had a prejudicial effect on Ngāi Te Rangi as it contributed to the erosion of tribal structures which were based on collective tribal and hapū custodianship of land. The Crown failed to take adequate steps to protect those structures and this was a breach of the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles.
3.9 The Crown acknowledges that, less than twenty years after confiscating a large amount of land from Ngāi Te Rangi, it began purchasing additional large amounts, including the sacred site of Mauao, the offshore islands of Karewa, Motuotau, Moturiki and Tūhua, and Pāpāmoa and Otawa, at a time of great economic hardship for Ngāi Te. The Crown further acknowledges that in negotiating land purchases from Ngāi Te Rangi during the 1880s and 1890s it:
3.9.1 frequently made use of monopoly powers; and
3.9.2 used aggressive tactics to negotiate for land including:
(a) exploiting food shortages to persuade individuals to sell; and
(b) purchasing interests from minors.
3.10 The Crown acknowledges that taken together these tactics meant that the Crown failed to actively protect the interests of Ngāi Te Rangi, and that the Crown’s conduct of land purchase negotiations in the 1880s and 1890s breached the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles.
3.11 The Crown acknowledges that:
3.11.1 the loss of most of their coastal lands has reduced Ngāi Te Rangi’s access to coastal urupā, kainga, food-gathering areas and associated resources;
3.11.2 the cumulative effect of its actions and omissions has left Ngāi Te Rangi virtually landless; and
3.11.3 the Crown’s failure to ensure that Ngāi Te Rangi retained sufficient land for their present and future needs was a breach of the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles.
3.12 The Crown acknowledges that the operation of a development scheme at Kaitemako from the 1930s to the 1950s meant that Ngāi Te Rangi lost effective control of this land for a number of years.
3.13 The Crown acknowledges that between 1953 and 1974, it empowered the Māori Trustee to compulsorily acquire Māori land interests it deemed ‘uneconomic’, and this was a breach of the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles, and deprived some Ngāi Te Rangi of a direct link to their turangawaewae.
3.14 The Crown acknowledges that it compulsorily acquired over 4,000 acres of land from Ngāi Te Rangi under public works legislation, including areas of cultural significance to Ngāi Te Rangi such as Panepane, the maunga tupuna Mangatawa and urupā. These takings have given rise to a serious grievance that is still felt today by Ngāi Te Rangi. The Crown further acknowledges that it breached the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles by:
3.14.1 failing to protect the interests of the owners in relation to the Whareroa lands taken for ‘better utilisation’;
3.14.2 failing to adequately notify or provide compensation to some owners in
relation to the construction of power lines over Māori-owned land; and
3.14.3 knowingly taking more land than was required for the public work in relation to Kaitemako B and C. By not consulting the owners, the Crown failed to provide them with the opportunity to negotiate the amount to be taken.
3.15 The Crown acknowledges that public works have had enduring negative effects on the
lands, resources, and cultural identity of Ngāi Te Rangi, including:
3.15.1 the laying of sewerage and wastewater pipes over the Waitahanui urupā and
the taking of lands for effluent treatment ponds;
3.15.2 the taking of land at Pāpāmoa for rubbish disposal;
3.15.3 the establishment of a communications tower on the peak of Kopukairoa;
3.15.4 the development of the port and airport; and
3.15.5 the motorway and infrastructure networks on the Maungatapu and Matapihi Peninsulas.
3.16 The Crown further acknowledges:
3.16.1 the significant contribution that Ngāi Te Rangi have made to the wealth and infrastructure of Tauranga on account of the lands taken for public works; and
3.16.2 the generosity of spirit shown by Ngāi te Rangi in enabling Tūhua to be the first island to be designated a Māori conservation area, and the lost opportunity for Ngāi Te Rangi to exercise rangatiratanga over the island.
3.17 The Crown acknowledges that the raupatu/confiscation at Tauranga, many of the Crown’s subsequent policies, and the expansion of Tauranga onto the remaining lands of Ngāi Te Rangi have contributed to the socio-economic marginalisation of Ngāi Te Rangi in their rohe, and that Ngāi Te Rangi living within their rohe suffer worse housing conditions, health, economic and educational outcomes than other New Zealanders.
3.18 The Crown acknowledges:
3.18.1 the significance of the land, forests, harbours, and waterways of Tauranga Moana to Ngāi Te Rangi as a physical and spiritual resource; and
3.18.2 that the development of the Port of Tauranga, the disposing of sewerage and wastewater into the harbours and waterways of Tauranga Moana, and the construction of effluent treatment ponds on Te Tāhuna o Rangataua, have resulted in the environmental degradation of Tauranga Moana and reduction of biodiversity and food resources which remain a source of great distress to Ngāi Te Rangi.
APOLOGY
3.19 The Crown makes this apology to Ngāi Te Rangi, to your tūpuna and to
your descendants.
3.20 The Crown unreservedly apologises for not having fulfilled its obligations to Ngāi Te Rangi under te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi and for having shown disrespect for the mana and rangatiratanga of Ngāi Te Rangi.
3.21 The Crown’s acts and omissions since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi have dishonoured the spirit with which Ngāi Te Rangi entered the Treaty with the Crown. At the Crown’s hands Ngāi Te Rangi suffered because of war and raupatu in Tauranga and the serious deprivations that followed. The Crown is profoundly sorry for its actions and that your people have carried the heavy burden of these Crown actions over successive generations.
3.22 The Crown deeply regrets its acts and omissions which have led to the loss of so much of the lands of Ngāi Te Rangi. The Crown apologises for the loss of sacred sites and key resources its acts and omissions have caused Ngāi Te Rangi. In particular the Crown is profoundly sorry that Ngāi Te Rangi lost ownership of Mauao for 120 years and lost access to coastal lands, and lost access to coastal lands at Pāpāmoa.
3.23 The Crown is deeply sorry for the marginalisation Ngāi Te Rangi have endured while the city of Tauranga expanded on their customary lands. The Crown apologises for the lost opportunities for development, and for the significant harm its actions have caused to the social and economic wellbeing of Ngāi Te Rangi.
3.24 Through this apology and this settlement the Crown seeks to address the wrongs of the past and to create a new platform from which to establish a relationship with Ngāi Te Rangi, a relationship based on mutual respect and cooperation as was originally envisaged by the Treaty of Waitangi.
