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Pouakani Deed of Settlement
Date:	1 November 1999
Sub Category:	Deed of Settlement (New Zealand)
Place:
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State/Country:	Aotearoa - New Zealand
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Payments:	($2650000)
Subject Matter:	Land Settlement \| Recognition of Native Title or Traditional Ownership
Summary Information:
The Pouakani Deed of Settlement relates to both Historical and Boundary Claims. The Historical Claims of the Pouakani People deal with the operation and impact of the Native Land Court and the Native land laws in the 19th century. The Boundary Claims relate to a dispute over the location of the western boundary of the Pouakani Block. The claims were pursued in the High Court and the Maori Land Court throughout the 20th century and hearings by the Waitangi Tribunal began in 1989. The Pouakani Report was published by the Tribunal in 1993. Negotiations on a settlement package between the Crown and the Pouakani People began in 1994, and a final offer was ratified and signed in November 1999. Legislation to implement the settlement was passed by Parliament in September 2000 and came into force in March 2001.
Detailed Information:
Historical Claims The Pouakani Historical Claims concern the operation and impact of the Native Land Court and the Native land laws in the 19th century. Although the Pouakani People wanted to continue administering their own lands and opposed the application of the Native land laws and the jurisdiction of the Native Land Court in their rohe, their wishes went unheeded by the colonial governments. Within 25 years of the Pouakani lands becoming subject to these laws and the jurisdiction of the Court in the mid 1880's, 95% of the Pouakani land (over 40, 469 hectares) had been alienated. Today, only 2387 hectares of land is still in Pouakani ownership. Redress for the Historical Claims: - A Crown Apology that expresses the profound regret of the Crown and apologises unreservedly to the Pouakani People for failing to protect their interests in the lands they wished to retain; - A Statement of Joint Aspirations between the Crown and the Pouakani People relating to the management of Titiraupenga Mountain. Half of the mountain is owned by Trusts affiliated with the Pouakani People and the other half is owned by the Crown; - A Statutory Acknowledgment relating to the Crown-owned half of Titiraupenga; - A Memorandum of Understanding outlining how the Department of Conservation and the Pouakani People will interact on specified matters.; - Financial redress of $2.65 million; - The Right to Purchase an area of up to 1679 hectares of Pureora Central Forest, a Crown-owned exotic pine forest. Boundary Claims The Pouakani Boundary Claims relate to a dispute over the location of the western boundary of the Pouakani Block. Following a recommendation by a Royal Commission, a boundary line between Pouakani land and a neighbouring Maori land block was established in law by the Native Land Acts Amendment Act of 1889. But the Native Land Court declared in 1891 that the boundary was to the east of that established by the Act. As a result, the Pouakani People lost almost 1700 hectares, and this land was subsequently alienated to the Crown by the new owners. In 1996 the Maori Land Court overturned the 1891 Native Land Court decision by which Pouakani lost almost 1700 hectares that was rightfully theirs. The settlement of the boundary claims settles the rights that the Pouakani People may have had to bring an action based on the loss of this lost land. Redress for the Boundary Claims: - Transfer of Tahae Farm, a former Landcorp property of approximately 1922 hectares; - Stewardship land - the transfer of approximately 100 hectares of land of low conservation value that is currently farmed by Pouakani under an informal agreement with the Department of Conservation; - Confirmation in legislation of the western boundary of the Pouakani Block and regularizing the boundary of the Pouakani B9B Block. The settlement will be managed by the Te Putahitanga o Nga Ara Trust.