Eco Jurisprudence Monitor

New Zealand Law: Ngāti Pāhauwera Treaty Claims Settlement Act 2012

Northern Hawke's Bay, Aotearoa (New Zealand)
Approved in 2012
Indigenous Territory, National
Legislation
Indigenous Model
Mohaka, Waikari, and Waihua rivers
Freshwater Ecosystem
The Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, the Honourable Christopher Finlayson, the Associate Minister of Māori Affairs, the Honourable Georgina Te Heuheu, and the Minister of Finance, the Honourable Simon William English for the Crown; and Kuki Green, Toro Waaka, Gerald Aranui, Sissiel Henderson, Charles Lambert, Tureiti Moxon, and Tania Hodges as trustees of the Ngāti Pāhauwera Development Trust and for Ngāti Pāhauwera.
Indigenous

Summary

Ngāti Pāhauwera is a confederation of hapū with historical interests in northern Hawke’s Bay. Their core area of interest stretches from the Ohinepaka Stream (south of Wairoa) to the Waikari River and inland from these areas towards the Maungaharuru range and north towards the Waiau River. This settlement Act provides the standard; agreed historical account and Crown acknowledgments, which form the basis for a Crown Apology to Ngäti Pähauwera; cultural redress; and financial and commercial redress. Of particular importance to ecological jurisprudence is the Crown acknowledgment of Ngāti Pāhauwera’s connection to the Mohaka, Waikari, and Waihua Rivers to as taonga and the mauri (life force) of their spiritual and material well-being. This binds the Crown to recognize that to Ngāti Pāhauwera these rivers are more than a body of water. These rivers are a sacred part of the natural environment that Ngāti Pāhauwera are spiritually connected to.

Suggested Citation:
Kauffman, Craig, Catherine Haas, Alex Putzer, Shrishtee Bajpai, Kelsey Leonard, Elizabeth Macpherson, Pamela Martin, Alessandro Pelizzon & Linda Sheehan. Eco Jurisprudence Monitor. V2. 2025. Distributed by the Eco Jurisprudence Monitor.https://ecojurisprudence.org/initiatives/new-zealand-ngati-pahauwera-treaty-claims-settlement-act-2012/.

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