The Waitangi Tribunal has found the Crown did not breach the Treaty of Waitangi in not allowing an individual settlement for the tangata whenua of Mōtītī Island.
Mōtītī Island sits about 20km off the coast of Pāpāmoa in the Bay of Plenty. Photo: Sunchaser
But it did find the review process undertaken by the Crown in 2015 was flawed, and that consultation could have been a lot better.
About 40 people live on the island, which sits about 20km off the coast of Pāpāmoa in the Bay of Plenty.
The tangata whenua of Mōtītī - Te Patuwai and Te Whānau a Tauwhao - went to the Tribunal after the Crown said they were covered by its settlement with eastern Bay of Plenty iwi Ngāti Awa.
The people of Mōtītī regard themselves as independent from Ngāti Awa, thus warranting their own settlement.
In its report, released today, and following hearings in Tauranga and Whakatāne, the Waitangi Tribunal determined that the Crown's claim that Te Patuwai was an affiliate to Ngāti Awa stood.
It found the Crown had properly informed itself through the kinship review, and that it had correctly assesed the claimants' settlement status, deeming that they were covered by the Ngāti Awa settlement.
"On the issue of settlement status, we find the Ngāti Awa Claims Settlement Act 2005 settled Mōtītī Island historical claims based on descent from Te Hapū," wrote Judge Miharo Armstrong in a letter accompanying the report.
However, the Tribunal did find several flaws in the Crown's approach, saying that overall it did not go about things in a culturally appropriate way.
"The Crown failed to fully engage with all relevant groups at the outset ; failed to invite all groups to participate in the initial design of the process ; and failed to support and engage in a tikanga based process to resolve the questions under review, instead making an assessment of them itself," Judge Armstrong wrote.
"Though aspects of the kinship review process were clearly flawed, we find the Crown acted appropriately overall. It conducted the review in a largely open and transparent way, and tried to be inclusive of all affected groups (albeit inadequately, at first)."