Relationship between the Waitangi Tribunal and Treaty settlement negotiation process
The Waitangi Tribunal process and the Treaty settlement negotiation process are separate but related processes.
The Waitangi Tribunal is a standing commission of inquiry. It was established to inquire into claims under the Treaty of Waitangi/Te Tiriti o Waitangi. This includes claims by any Māori that the Crown has acted in breach of the Treaty of Waitangi/Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The Waitangi Tribunal also makes recommendations.
The Crown, through Te Tari Whakatau, negotiates the settlement of historical Treaty of Waitangi claims directly with claimant groups.
To learn more you can read, download, and share an overview of the approach for resolving historical Treaty of Waitangi claims.
Settling historic Treaty of Waitangi claims [PDF, 131 KB]
Role of Wai claimants
A Wai claim sets out ways the named claimant(s) consider the Crown has breached the Treaty of Waitangi/Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Having a Wai claim does not grant any extra 'rights' for the named claimant(s) compared to other members of the hapū or iwi.
The Crown strongly prefers to negotiate Treaty settlements with larger groups of tribal interests, rather than individual hapū, whānau, or Wai claimants. This approach makes the process of settlement easier to manage and work through. It also makes the process more cost effective for the mandated group and the Crown, and makes overlapping interests easier to address.
Comprehensive negotiations with large natural groups also enable the Crown and mandated representatives to develop a settlement package that includes a wide range of redress, some of which would only be provided to a larger group. Generally, specific redress is not negotiated for each claim included in a mandate.
Wai claims are settled to the extent they relate to the settling group. This means a Wai claim related to multiple hapū or iwi could be included under multiple mandated entities.
It is important that members of the claimant group feel they are represented by the proposed mandated entity. There are many options for how this can be achieved. This could be a Wai claimant committee that advises the mandated entity, or another forum that is appropriate for the group.
Other information available
There is also information about these two processes in reports produced by the Crown Forestry Rental Trust (CFRT). More information about the Waitangi Tribunal is available on their website.
CFRT Māori experiences of the direct negotiations process (external link)