Historic Central North Island (CNI) Treaty of Waitangi settlement

In 2009 Te Mana o Ngāti Rangitihi Trust was one of eight iwi (the CNI Iwi Collective) that were party to the historic Central North Island (CNI) Treaty of Waitangi settlement, receiving more than $9 million in settlement assets and holdings.

The process of determining Mana Whenua interests for the 23 Central North Island (CNI) forest blocks was set out in the CNI Forests Collective Settlement of 2008. A unique feature of the CNI settlement was the agreement that the eight CNI iwi themselves, rather than the Crown, would decide which areas of the returned land would rightfully belong to each iwi. The process would comprise kanohi ki te kanohi negotiations first and then adjudication if required.

In 2014, after a number of years of unsuccessful kanohi ki te kanohi negotiations, nine Kaingaroa forest blocks went to adjudication.

On 26 June 2014, the Adjudication Panel announced its findings on the nine blocks, finding 22% belonged to Ngāti Rangitihi. With the adjudication process for these blocks complete, negotiations on the 14 remaining forest blocks (four of them in the Kaingaroa) will continue.