NZ Treaty of Waitangi Settlements Explorer

Settlements over time

• 1995
  Waikato-Tainui

  Waikato$170 million

  The Waikato-Tainui settlement was the country’s first modern comprehensive Treaty settlement. The iwi’s grievance — the Crown’s invasion and confiscation of 1.2 million acres of Waikato land in 1863-65 in retaliation for the Kīngitanga’s resistance to Crown policy — had remained unresolved for 130 years. Sir Robert Mahuta led the negotiation; Queen Elizabeth II signed the Deed in person and issued a Royal Apology. $170 million in financial redress (modest relative to the 1860s losses, but a deliberate template figure). The Waikato River subsequently received its own co-governance arrangement under the 2010 Settlement of the Waikato River Claim. The 1995 settlement remains the historical hinge for the entire Treaty process.
• 1998
  Ngāi Tahu

  Te Waipounamu (South Island)$170 million

  Ngāi Tahu’s grievance covered nearly the entire South Island — over a century of Crown land purchases that had failed to honour reserves, education and health commitments made in the original purchase deeds. The 1998 settlement was the second of the early major settlements, deliberately set at $170M to match Waikato-Tainui as a benchmark of equivalence. Ngāi Tahu received Aoraki/Mt Cook in fee simple and immediately returned it to the nation as a koha — a symbolically powerful gesture. The iwi then built the most successful post-settlement asset base in the country (Ngāi Tahu Holdings, ~$2 billion). Cultural redress includes statutory acknowledgement over much of the South Island.

• 2005
  Ngāti Awa

  Bay of Plenty (Whakatāne)$42 million

  Ngāti Awa’s grievance centred on the 1865 confiscation of the iwi’s land following Crown reprisal for the killing of missionary Carl Volkner. The confiscation took the heart of the Ngāti Awa rohe in the eastern Bay of Plenty. Settlement reached 2003-05 with $42M financial quantum. Cultural redress includes statutory acknowledgement over Mt Edgecumbe / Pūtauaki, the Whakatāne River and other landmarks. Ngāti Awa Group Holdings has built a strong commercial base in Whakatāne.
• 2006
  Te Arawa Lakes

  Rotorua$2.7 million + lake bed return

  The Te Arawa Lakes settlement (2006) returned the lakebeds of 14 Rotorua-area lakes to Te Arawa — Lake Rotorua, Rotoiti, Tarawera, Rotomā, Rotoehu, Rotokakahi, Rotomahana, Tikitapu, Ōkareka, Ōkataina, Rerewhakaaitu, Tutaeinanga, Ngāhewa and Ngāpouri. Te Arawa Lakes Trust now holds the lakebeds. Public access for swimming, fishing and boating was preserved — the practical change was symbolic and gave Te Arawa standing in lake-management decisions. A separate comprehensive Te Arawa settlement covering land claims followed in 2008.
• 2006
  Ngāti Mutunga (Taranaki)

  Taranaki$14.9 million

  Ngāti Mutunga (Taranaki) settled in 2005-06. The iwi’s grievance includes 1820s migration to Wharekauri (Chatham Islands) and the subsequent loss of Taranaki land base; the settlement covers both branches. $14.9M financial quantum. Cultural redress includes site association with maunga, rivers and coastline.
• 2008
  Te Arawa Iwi

  Rotorua / Bay of Plenty$36 million + Crown land

  The Te Arawa Iwi settlement was a complex multi-iwi process. The lakes (returned in 2006) were dealt with first; the broader land grievances followed in 2008 with $36M plus various Crown land returns. The geothermal-resource redress recognised Te Arawa’s customary association with the Rotorua geothermal field — the practical effect was guaranteed Te Arawa voice on geothermal extraction consents.

• 2012
  Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei

  Auckland$18 million + Bastion Point land

  Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei’s claim covered the Crown’s incremental purchase and confiscation of the iwi’s Auckland isthmus lands through the 19th and 20th centuries — including Bastion Point, where Ngāti Whātua mounted a 506-day occupation in 1977-78 protesting Crown plans to subdivide and sell remaining Ngāti Whātua land. The 2011-12 settlement returned Bastion Point and the Ōrākei papakāinga, plus $18M financial redress and a right of first refusal on most Auckland Crown surplus property. The iwi has subsequently developed a substantial property portfolio in central Auckland (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Whai Maia).
• 2012
  Ngāti Porou

  East Coast$110 million

  Ngāti Porou’s settlement was significant because it included the Ngāti Porou Foreshore and Seabed Deed (2008) — a settlement specifically of the foreshore-and-seabed claim that became a template for the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011. The wider settlement followed in 2010-12 with $110M. Mt Hikurangi (the 1752m summit reputedly the first to see the new sun’s rays) is part of the cultural redress. Ngāti Porou Holdings is one of the larger iwi commercial structures.
• 2012
  Rongowhakaata

  Gisborne$22 million

  Rongowhakaata settled in 2011-12 with $22M financial quantum. The signature cultural redress was the return of Te Hau ki Tūranga — a 19th-century carved meetinghouse confiscated by the Crown in 1867 and held at Te Papa as the museum’s centrepiece for decades. Its return marked one of the largest single cultural-property restitutions in NZ history.
• 2012
  Ngāti Pāhauwera

  Hawke’s Bay (Mōhaka River)$20 million

  Ngāti Pāhauwera settled in 2010-12. $20M financial quantum. The Mōhaka River co-governance arrangement was a precursor to similar river-settlement structures elsewhere. Land returns included sites of significance and Crown surplus property in the Mōhaka catchment.
• 2012
  Ngāi Tāmanuhiri

  Gisborne (Young Nick’s Head)$11 million

  Ngāi Tāmanuhiri settled in 2010-12 with $11M. The cultural redress covers Te Kuri (Young Nick’s Head), the southern headland of Poverty Bay sighted by James Cook’s nephew Nicholas Young from the masthead of the Endeavour in October 1769 — the first NZ landfall of European voyaging. The headland has profound dual significance: a Ngāi Tāmanuhiri ancestral landscape and the contact-zone landmark for European arrival.
• 2012
  Ngāti Manawa

  Murupara / Bay of Plenty$12.2 million

  Ngāti Manawa settled in 2009-12 with $12.2M. Co-management of Whirinaki Conservation Park (the central North Island podocarp-broadleaf forest) is the headline cultural redress.
• 2014
  Tūhoe / Te Urewera

  Te Urewera$170 millionLegal personhood / special

  The 2014 Te Urewera Act was a constitutional first — it ended a national park (Te Urewera, gazetted 1954) and gave the land itself legal personhood. Te Urewera is no longer ‘owned’ by the Crown; it is a legal person, with rights and a governing board (Te Urewera Board, currently 8 members, half nominated by Tūhoe and half by the Crown). The settlement also included $170M of financial redress and a Crown apology for the colonial-era invasion of Te Urewera in 1916 to arrest Rua Kēnana, and for related raupatu (confiscation) and assimilation policies. The legal-personhood model was extended to the Whanganui River in 2017 and Mt Taranaki in 2023.
• 2014
  Ngāti Toa Rangatira

  Cook Strait / Wellington$70 million

  Ngāti Toa settled in 2012-14 with $70M. Crown apology specifically addressed the 1846-48 holding of Te Rauparaha by Governor George Grey without trial — a case that has been characterised as a colonial-era political detention. Cook Strait redress (statutory acknowledgement) reflects the iwi’s traditional Cook Strait crossing and trading networks. Significant land returns in the Porirua-Plimmerton area.
• 2014
  Te Tau Ihu (8 iwi)

  Top of South Island$143 million collective

  The Te Tau Ihu settlement was an unusual eight-iwi collective deal in 2014 — a result of the Tribunal’s Te Tau Ihu Report (2008) finding that the Crown’s 1840s-50s purchases at the top of the South Island had created complex overlapping grievances. Total financial quantum $143M divided among the eight iwi. The collective approach was driven partly by the heavy overlap between iwi rohe in the region — a hapū-by-hapū settlement would have been infeasible. Ngāti Toa, Te Ātiawa and Ngāti Tama have presence both here and in their main rohe (Wellington and north Taranaki).
• 2014
  Ngāti Rārua

  Top of South IslandPart of Te Tau Ihu collective

  Ngāti Rārua’s individual settlement was nested within the broader Te Tau Ihu collective deal of 2014. Cultural redress included site association with mountains, rivers and coastline of the top of the South Island.
• 2014
  Raukawa

  Waikato / King Country$28 million + Waikato River redress

  Raukawa settled in 2009-14 with $28M. The Waikato River component links to the multi-iwi co-governance arrangement established in 2010 with Waikato-Tainui, Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Ngāti Maniapoto. Cultural redress over central North Island sites and rivers.
• 2015
  Te Aupōuri

  Far North$21 million

  Te Aupōuri settled in 2012-15 with $21M. The cultural redress included statutory acknowledgement over Cape Reinga / Te Rerenga Wairua — the headland of profound cultural significance as the leaping place where spirits depart for Hawaiki. Land returns and various Crown surplus property in the Aupōuri Peninsula.
• 2015
  Ngāti Kuri

  Far North$21.04 million

  Ngāti Kuri settled in 2014-15 with $21M. The iwi’s cultural redress included a unique partnership component with Manaaki Whenua / Landcare Research for science-led restoration of native species and ecosystems on the iwi’s lands and adjacent Crown areas. The Three Kings Islands (Manawatāwhi) cultural significance was specifically acknowledged.
• 2016
  Taranaki Iwi

  Taranaki$70 million

  Taranaki Iwi’s settlement was part of a multi-stage process across the eight Taranaki iwi (Te Atiawa, Taranaki, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngā Rauru, Ngāruahine). The Taranaki Iwi 2016 settlement covered the southern Taranaki area. Crown apologies in these settlements specifically addressed the 1881 raid on Parihaka — Crown forces invaded the pacifist settlement of Tohu Kākahi and Te Whiti o Rongomai, dispersing 1500 people, in one of NZ history’s most-discussed colonial-era violations. The Mt Taranaki collective settlement followed in 2025.
• 2016
  Te Ātiawa (Taranaki)

  Taranaki$87 million

  Te Ātiawa (the Taranaki branch — to be distinguished from Te Ātiawa ki Whakarongotai in the Wellington region) settled in 2014-16 with $87M. Covered raupatu (1865 confiscation), the Parihaka invasion, and ongoing post-confiscation grievances. Cultural redress included statutory acknowledgement over significant landscape features in north Taranaki.
• 2017
  Whanganui River (Te Awa Tupua)

  Whanganui$80 million + $30M river fundLegal personhood / special

  The Whanganui Iwi grievance covered over 130 years of Crown disregard for the river — the iwi maintained ‘I am the river, the river is me’ and that the Crown’s treatment of the river as a navigable highway and waterworks resource violated their guardianship. The 2017 Te Awa Tupua Act recognised the river as a legal person — it can sue and be sued, and Te Pou Tupua (two guardians, one Crown one iwi) speak on its behalf. The settlement included $80M financial redress and a $30M river-restoration fund. The legal-personhood concept has been cited in court cases globally and influenced subsequent NZ settlements (Mt Taranaki 2023).
• 2017
  Rangitāne Tamaki nui-a-Rua

  Manawatū / Tararua$32.5 million

  Rangitāne Tamaki nui-a-Rua’s settlement (one of three Rangitāne settlements; others cover the Wairarapa and Te Tau Ihu) was finalised in 2017. $32.5M financial quantum. The Wai 2200 Wairarapa-ki-Tararua Inquiry (2010-15) was the foundational Tribunal work. Cultural redress includes co-management of Te Apiti / Manawatū Gorge after its 2017 closure to road traffic.
• 2017
  Ngāti Pūkenga

  Bay of Plenty / Coromandel$12 million

  Ngāti Pūkenga settled in 2013-17 with $12M. The iwi rohe extends across both the Bay of Plenty and the Coromandel — a relatively unusual cross-regional settlement structure.
• 2018
  Ngāti Tūwharetoa (Lake Taupō)

  Lake TaupōLake gifted in 1992; full settlement 2018 — $25M

  The Ngāti Tūwharetoa settlement is unusual because the iwi’s most-significant grievance — Crown ownership of Lake Taupō and surrounding rivers — was resolved in a 1992 statute that pre-dates the modern settlement framework. The Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board received the bed of Lake Taupō and the lower reaches of the rivers feeding it. Annuity payments were established for fishing rights. The wider settlement covering land grievances followed in 2018 — $25M plus various land returns and cultural redress including co-management of the maunga (Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, Ruapehu — the original 1887 ‘gift’ from Te Heuheu Tūkino IV that became Tongariro National Park).
• 2019
  Ngāti Rangi

  Ohakune / Mt Ruapehu$17 million

  Ngāti Rangi settled in 2018-19 with $17M. Cultural redress includes statutory acknowledgement of the Whangaehu River (which carries the lahar overflow from Ruapehu’s crater lake) and the southwestern slopes of Mt Ruapehu. Tongariro National Park co-management arrangements include Ngāti Rangi alongside Ngāti Tūwharetoa.

• 2021
  Moriori (Chatham Islands)

  Chatham Islands$18 million

  The Moriori settlement is unique in NZ history. Moriori — the indigenous people of Rēkohu / Wharekauri (Chatham Islands) — were nearly extinguished by the 1835 invasion of two Taranaki iwi who killed or enslaved most of the Moriori population. The Crown subsequently treated Moriori as an ‘extinct’ people through the 19th and 20th centuries, denying the surviving descendants formal recognition. The 2020-21 settlement included a comprehensive Crown apology, $18M financial redress, and acknowledgement that Moriori as a distinct people are very much alive. Hokotehi Moriori Trust represents the modern Moriori community.
• 2024
  Ngāti Maniapoto

  King Country$165 million

  Ngāti Maniapoto settled in 2021-24 with $165M financial quantum. The settlement is one of the largest by an inland North Island iwi. The Crown apology specifically addressed the post-1880s Native Land Court system that fragmented Maniapoto land tenure. Te Awa Tupua / Whanganui River runs through the southern Maniapoto rohe; co-governance arrangements link to the 2017 river settlement. Maniapoto Māori Trust Board has built a substantial commercial structure post-settlement.
• 2025
  Mt Taranaki / Te Kāhui Tupua

  Taranaki~$50 million collectiveLegal personhood / special

  The Taranaki maunga collective settlement was finalised in 2025 after a decade of negotiation among eight iwi (Te Atiawa, Taranaki, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngā Rauru Kītahi, Ngāruahine) and the Crown. The mountain itself becomes a legal person under Te Kāhui Tupua, with a co-governance board half Taranaki iwi and half Crown. Egmont National Park is being substantially restructured — the mountain area moves to the new entity while peripheral DOC land remains Crown. The Crown apology covered the 19th-century Taranaki Wars, raupatu (confiscation), and over a century of Crown management of the mountain without iwi voice.

• 2018
  Hauraki Collective (12 iwi)

  Hauraki / CoromandelIn progress — interim deedsIn progress

  The 12 Hauraki iwi have been in settlement negotiations for over a decade. Some individual iwi (Ngāti Whanaunga, Ngāti Tamaterā among others) have completed their settlements; the broader collective deal covering the Hauraki Gulf marine area connects to the Sea Change Hauraki Gulf marine plan and remains in-progress. The collective approach reflects the heavy overlap of iwi rohe across the Hauraki Plains and the Coromandel.
• 2018
  Ngāti Kahungunu (Wairoa)

  WairoaIn progressIn progress

  Ngāti Kahungunu is too large to settle as one iwi — settlements have proceeded by sub-region (Wairoa, central Hawke’s Bay, Tāmaki nui-a-Rua/southern Hawke’s Bay). The Wai 894 Wairoa-ki-Wairarapa Inquiry was the foundational Tribunal work. Wairoa branches have been at deed of settlement stage as of 2025; central Hawke’s Bay and southern claims continue to negotiate.
• 2025
  Whanganui Iwi (Ruruku Whakatupua land settlement)

  Whanganui$165 millionIn progress

  The Whanganui Iwi land settlement (Ruruku Whakatupua – Te Mana o Te Awa Tupua and Te Mana o Te Iwi o Whanganui) was negotiated in two parts. The river deed (2014, legislated 2017) gave the river legal personhood; the land deed (2015, ongoing legislation) covers $165M financial redress for Crown takings of land. Whanganui National Park co-governance arrangements are part of the land deed. Final legislation is expected in 2025-26.
• TBD
  Ngāpuhi

  NorthlandTo be determinedIn progress

  Ngāpuhi is NZ’s largest iwi by population and the seat of the original 1840 Treaty signings (Waitangi). The settlement negotiation has been protracted — fundamentally because Ngāpuhi has been split between those advocating a single iwi-wide settlement and those advocating settlement at hapū level (multiple smaller deals). The Waitangi Tribunal’s Stage 1 report (Te Paparahi o te Raki, 2014) found that the Crown’s 1840 Treaty negotiations did not transfer sovereignty in the Māori-language understanding — a finding with constitutional implications that the Crown has not fully accepted. Stage 2 of the Tribunal report covers post-1840 dealings. Settlement remains in-progress as of 2025.