Taranaki Maunga redress deed

The Crown and Ngā Iwi o Taranaki have agreed to the Taranaki Maunga redress package, named Te Ruruku Pūtakerongo, marking a history-making moment for Taranaki. The deal is the culmination of six years of talks between the Crown and the iwi and recognises the generations of effort to seek justice for the 1865 confiscation of the maunga. The deal bestows legal personhood on the maunga, the national park Te Papa-Kura-O-Taranaki, and the nearby peaks, known collectively as Te Kāhui Tupua. This recognition will change the way we see, view, and relate to the natural world, said Ngā Iwi o Taranaki lead negotiator Jamie Tuuta.

The official name of a geographic feature in Aotearoa New Zealand will be in te reo Māori for the first time in history.

The settlement also includes a $35 million payment to support the health and wellbeing of the maunga and surrounding lands. The Department of Conservation will manage Te Papa-Kura-Taranaki, but a co-governance approach involving the iwi and the Crown will guide future decisions related to the park.

This marks the end of all Treaty of Waitangi settlements in Taranaki completed but Andrew Little was quick to say it was not the end, but a start of a new relationship between Crown and Iwi in the region.

The settlement also includes the setting up of a formal entity as the face and voice of Te Kāhui Tapua which will be made up of both Crown and Iwi representatives.