Te Pae Roa hui, chaired by Sir Mason Durie, has been described as ushering in the era of Maori development when it began in 1984.
This year it was run by Massey University and explored the issues, challenges and opportunities facing Maori and the advances made within Te Ao Maori since the first hui.
More than 300 people from a range of professions gathered at the university's North Shore campus for the two-day conference.
They discussed the challenges for Maori development in a post-Treaty settlement era, and explored the balance between economic, social, cultural and environmental dimensions.
The university's Director of Maori, Dr Te Kani Kingi, said it was a chance not only to get Maori thinkers , including researchers and academics, together to reflect on the past, but also to use the past as inspiration for the future, and plot considered pathways for tangata whenua.
Keynote speakers included educationalist Sir Tamati Reedy, Hawaiian Professor Keawe'aimoku Kaholokula and High Court judge, Justice Joe Williams.
Prolific academic Sir Mason Durie gave the closing address for the hui this afternoon.