Modern History

Through the twentieth century Ngati Whare as an iwi struggled to retain its lands and develop economically. From the 1940s many Ngati Whare left to reside in places where work was more plentiful, although whanau networks remained strong and a good number of Ngati Whare continued living at Te Whaiti, Minginui, or nearby in Murupara and Rotorua. Ngati Whare marae continued to be active, with various additions and renovations taking place over time.

Ngati Whare's organisation as an iwi also evolved: first through tribal runanga and block committees in the 1910s and 1920s, then through marae committees in the 1950s and 1960s, and subsequently through Te Whaiti-nui-a-Toi Trust, which was established after the consolidation of most of Ngati Whare's remaining lands in 1976. Following the disestablishment of the New Zealand Forest Service in 1987, Minginui Forest Village (which had been built by the Service to house its workers) was passed to the ownership of Ngati Whare in 1988, and another entity, the Ngati Whare Trust, established specifically to hold the land and assets of the village, as modest as they were.

In more recent years Ngati Whare have pursued claims against the Crown for breach of the Treaty of Waitangi. The Ngati Whare claim, Wai 66, was lodged in 1987 by Charlie Rewi and Pahiri Matekuare. Originally advanced by the trustees of Te Whaiti-nui-a-Toi Trust, after 1991 Ngati Whare worked with the Crown Forestry Rental Trust as a source of funding for research and operational capacity. In the mid 1990s the Ngati Whare Claims Committee was established to organise the research needed for the Ngati Whare claim.

In 1999, after five years of deliberations and hui, Te Runanga o Ngati Whare Iwi Trust was established to represent Ngati Whare on all matters. The Runanga was granted mandate of the iwi in July 2003 to represent Ngati Whare in Treaty settlement negotiations with the Crown. In May 2004 Terms of Negotiation were signed with the Crown. In June 2004 Ngati Whare presented its claim to the Waitangi Tribunal's Urewera inquiry. Tribunal hearings and submissions were completed in June 2005, and a report is expected in either late 2008 or early 2009.

Ngati Whare has been fully engaged in settlement negotiations with the Office of Treaty Settlements from mid 2005. Some recent and significant success has been achieved through Ngati Whare's participation in the CNI Forests Iwi Collective, which reached an Agreement in Principle with the Crown in April 2008 and for which endorsement from the iwi is being sought. At the finalisation of that arrangement, expected in June 2008, Ngati Whare will move to complete their remaining Treaty settlement negotiations with the Office of Treaty Settlements, being a Crown apology, agreed historical account, cultural redress and potentially additional commercial redress.