Possible name change ahead for mountain's new legal personality, national park

Tuesday, 5 June 2018

Mt Taranaki is at the heart of discussions between all eight iwi of the region and the Crown regarding past Treaty of Waitangi breaches.

A new way to refer to Taranaki's most notable landmark and its national park could be on the cards.

Mt Taranaki is currently the subject of Treaty of Waitangi negotiations between all eight iwi of the region and the Crown.

A name change for Egmont National Park is part of the formal discussions between Taranaki iwi groups and the Crown over treaty breaches connected to Mt Taranaki.

Last December the parties signed Te Anga Pūtakerongo or the Record of Understanding, which is helping guide the talks.

Part of that agreement will see the mountain become a legal personality, a process which gives it the same protections as a citizen. Similar rights were given to the Whanganui River in 2017.

Ngā Iwi o Taranaki lead negotiator Jamie Tuuta.

Jamie Tuuta, lead negotiator of Ngā Iwi o Taranaki (the formal name of the eight member group) said talks with the Crown towards a deed of collective redress were continuing and a decision had yet to be made regarding any name for the mountain's legal personality or any change in moniker for the Egmont National Park.

'But we can confirm it is part of our discussions with the Crown,' he said in a written statement.

Tuuta said along with negotiations with the Crown, discussions also continued with Taranaki whānau, hapu and iwi.

* Iwi begin treaty talks over Mt Taranaki

* History reveals Taranaki's peak was once known by a different name**

The final settlement could also include the development of a governance and management approach which involved iwi, government and the community along with setting up a 'whole of mountain' strategy regarding all activity on Mt Taranaki.

An apology was also likely but the claim does not provide for any financial or commercial compensation.

There are more than 100 sites of cultural significance to Maori within Mt Taranaki's Egmont National Park and the mountain plays a key role in the history and whakapapa of Taranaki's eight iwi groups.

When spoken to last year, at the start of settlement talks, Tuuta explained that the mountain was at the centre of Treaty of Waitangi breaches endured by Taranaki Māori at the hands of the Crown.

The Waitangi Tribunal's Taranaki Report, released in 1996, explained how the mountain had 'extraordinary significance' to Māori.

Under the Mount Egmont Vesting Act 1978, the mountain was returned to the region by vesting it in the Taranaki Māori Trust Board.

It was then immediately passed back to the Government by the board as a 'gift to the nation'.

However, the tribunal said there had been little evidence provided to it which verified there was agreement from Taranaki hapū to do this.

There had also been no valid basis for Mt Taranaki's confiscation from Māori in the first instance, the tribunal ruled.

In May 1986, the New Zealand Geographic Board officially recorded Mt Taranaki and Mt Egmont as interchangeable names for the maunga, whose summit is scaled by about 15,000 people every year.