Ngāi Tūteauru have reaffirmed their mana whenua over Kohatutaka by signing a whakatūturutanga document, firmly opposing the Crown’s lease proposal and the landbanking process.

This affirmation comes after 73 days of noho whenua - an occupation of their ancestral land - during which Ngāi Tūteauru have maintained a peaceful presence, actively resisting Land Information New Zealand’s (LINZ) plans to demolish two houses on the site without hapū consent.

The tikanga of the noho whenua includes strict protocols to maintain order and respect on the site. These include the return of the whenua as the paramount goal, maintaining peace, prohibiting drugs and alcohol, keeping the ahi burning day and night, and holding daily wānanga.

The whenua in question is a 1500-hectare farm block at Ōtaua on Ninihi Road, known as Kohatutaka 6a PT. Historically, the land was unlawfully sold into private ownership in the early 1900s, but Ngāi Tūteauru maintain that it rightfully belongs to them. After the lease on the block ended, rather than allowing the land to default to the Crown, Ngāi Tūteauru chose to occupy the whenua and assert their authority over it.

“Kua 73 ngā rā e noho whenua nei mātau,” says noho whenua kaiārahi Markus Rogers.

Ka hainatia te pepa kōrari, ka pūmau te mana whenua

On August 3rd, at Pukerātā Marae, Ngāi Tūteauru, alongside their kiritata, Te Māhurehure and Ngāti Pākau, signed their whakatūturutanga - a formal affirmation of their mana motuhake over Kohatutaka. The document itself, written on kōrari paper made from harakeke, symbolises their independent authority separate from the Crown.

“Nō mātau kē tēnei whenua kei raro i te mana motuhake o Ngāi Tūteauru,” he says.

Ngāi Tūteauru reject the Crown’s recent offer to lease the land back to them, which includes an annual fee of $50,000. Pere Huriwai-Seger emphasises the hapū’s stance.

“That’s our whenua. We’re not [going to] pay the Crown for our own whenua.”

The hapū also oppose LINZ’s plan to demolish two houses on the whenua. Despite safety concerns cited by LINZ, Ngāi Tūteauru have maintained a peaceful site with no incidents, calling for all works to cease.

He whakahē i ngā pūranga whenua a te Karauna

The whenua is currently landbanked, meaning it is held by the Crown and scheduled to be returned to Māori through a Treaty settlement process.

Huriwai-Seger critiques the process as inadequate, saying it is drawn out.

“On average, [we] only receive back 1% of what we’ve lost. For me, the Treaty settlement process is not the way for this whenua to be returned to us,” he adds.

“Hapū is the highest authority in Aotearoa. It was hapū that signed Te Tiriti. We’re the ones that divvied out authority to the Kāwanatanga, and it’s authority that we can take back if we want.”

The occupation is part of a wider movement of Māori reclaiming land and asserting tino rangatiratanga outside traditional Treaty settlement processes, seen also in places like Oneone ki te Whenua in Kaiti. Joel Bristowe says this sets the tone for noho whenua across the motu.

“Kāore e kore a tōna wā ka kite tēnei o ngā tūmomo kaupapa huri noa i a Aotearoa nei. Tirohia wēnei o ngā noho whenua hei tauira mō tātau katoa te Māori.”

Ngāi Tūteauru have given the Crown 30 days to clarify their intentions regarding the land, signaling a firm deadline for the government to engage with their demands.