Moriori Challenge Crown Over 'Tino Rangatiratanga'
Wellington, 12 June 2025 – The Moriori Imi Settlement Trust (MIST), supported by the Hokotehi Moriori Trust (HMT), has filed proceedings in the High Court at Wellington challenging the Crown's proposal to recognise Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri's (NMOW) tino rangatiratanga over Rēkohu (the Chatham Islands).
In 1870, the Native Land Court and colonial government gave 97.3% of all land on the Chatham Islands to NMOW (who arrived on an English sailing ship in only 1835), completely disregarding Moriori custom and the ancient, peaceful occupation of the islands. Instead, they applied the New Zealand Māori custom of take raupatu (claim by conquest).
The Waitangi Tribunal found in 2001 that Moriori should have received 'at least 50% of the land' on Rēkohu and that 'redress by far was due to Moriori' (Tribunal recommends compensation for Moriori). Despite this, NMOW have continued to claim exclusive mana whenua and tino rangatiratanga over Rēkohu. Now, the Crown appears ready to repeat these past injustices.
When Moriori settled their historic Treaty claims with the Crown in 2020, the Crown gave clear and repeated assurances that it would remain strictly neutral between imi and iwi on matters of mana whenua and tino rangatiratanga over Rēkohu. For this reason, those terms do not appear in the Moriori Deed of Settlement.
Moriori Claims Settlement Act 2021: https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2021/0049/latest/LMS238051.html
However, in 2022, MIST was formally advised that the Crown intended to include in the NMOW Deed of Settlement an explicit acknowledgement of NMOW's tino rangatiratanga over Rēkohu. This contradicts prior commitments made to Moriori and represents a serious breach of trust and the terms of our own Deed. The Crown maintains this does not amount to recognition of mana whenua —a position strongly rejected by MIST and supported by respected Māori legal and tikanga experts. In their view, tino rangatiratanga clearly implies exclusive chiefly authority over land.
Moriori (MIST & HMT) consider the Crown's position not only disingenuous—but outrageous. Tino rangatiratanga is not a term the Crown has the right to define, limit, or politically reinterpret to suit its convenience.
The implications of this recognition are profound. It would undermine the integrity and intent of the Moriori Treaty settlement—an outcome Moriori worked toward for generations. It would also risk legitimising the 1835 invasion, where two mainland tribes used violence to kill, enslave, and displace the peaceful Moriori. Under tikane Moriori, land was never taken through warfare. Even under tikanga Māori, NMOW's claims to take raupatu were not found valid by the Waitangi Tribunal.
This situation raises an unsettling question: Why is this happening at all? Why would the Crown give such clear assurances to Moriori, only to reverse course and grant the very recognition it swore it would withhold? This contradiction cuts to the core of the Crown's integrity and the trust that should underpin the Treaty settlement process.
This legal challenge is not intended to delay or block NMOW's redress. Moriori supports their right to a settlement— provided it does not impinge upon or undermine Moriori rights. We offered a solution: remove the offending phrase from NMOW's Deed. The Crown refused.
Moriori are now calling on the Crown to honour its promise of neutrality and refrain from taking any steps that would undermine the Treaty settlement signed with us just five years ago. Anything less risks eroding trust in the Crown's commitments.
With all other avenues exhausted, Moriori will now seek to be heard in the court of law. We do so reluctantly, but with a firm commitment to uphold the dignity of our karapuna (ancestors) and protect the legacy we leave for future generations of our imi (people).
Me rongo
(In peace)
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