Tēnā koutou e te whanau whānui o Ngāti Hikairo,
We are making good progress with the research associated with the Marine and Coastal Area MACA high court case. Tirohanga Kāwhia Johnson our Iwi researcher is having some wonderful conversations with our iwi members as she researches Hikairo kōrero about our experiences with Kāwhia Moana and the Sea outside of the harbour mouth.
In addition the historians that we have engaged have been able to identify lots of historical evidence that supports what we already know that Ngāti Hikairo are people who utilised Kāwhia Moana and the sea for generations to support ourselves, our families and our way of life. Tirohanga and the historians will in time write a comprehensive report outlining their research and findings that will be invaluable in our court case, and will in turn be shared with us as Ngāti Hikairo. The court case is currently scheduled for June 2022.
Treaty of Waitangi claims – a lot of good work is being undertaken here as well with the next significant milestone being a meeting scheduled for October 11 ( COVID restrictions permitting) with Waikato—Tainui to discuss our claims, the draft Oati that we have prepared and how we might engage with Waikato Tainui with respect to settling our remaining claims. To recap we essentially have two options to settle our remaining claims;
- Go by ourselves or;
- Join with Waikato– Tainui and a number of other Iwi to settle the Wai 30 claim and our other remaining claims.
In the meeting we are seeking ways in which we will be can work together using a tikanga based approach, that enables Ngāti Hikairo to achieve our aspirations with the support and assistance of Waikato– Tainui.
Once we have a better understanding of the pluses and minuses of each option we will bring this back to the iwi for your review so that a decision can be made about the option we choose.
