Treaty settlement place name proposals

Only Te Arawhiti (The Office for Māori Crown Relations), on behalf of a Treaty claimant group, can make a proposal to restore or change a place name through a Treaty of Waitangi claims settlement.

Proposals

There is a proposal form to complete. The proposal form has sections for the claimant group to complete and sections that Te Arawhiti must complete.

Restoring or changing place names through a Treaty settlement

  1. Place name restoration and/or changes are proposed during Treaty settlement negotiations, prior to a Deed of Settlement being initialled.
  2. Te Arawhiti must provide us with a completed proposal form before we can begin processing a proposal.
  3. We discuss the proposals and make recommendations to Te Arawhiti on place names to be included in a Treaty settlement.
  4. The Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations makes the final decision.
  5. If agreed by the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations and the claimants, the restored and/or changed place names are included in a Deed of Settlement and made official through Treaty settlement legislation.
  6. Once the Treaty settlement legislation has been enacted we publish the names in the New Zealand Gazette, newspapers and the New Zealand Gazetteer.

These resources will help you with a Treaty settlement place name proposal:

Proposal form for Treaty settlement place names – English
DOCX
197.03 KB
Proposal form for Treaty settlement place names – Māori
DOCX
200.45 KB
Guidelines for Treaty of Waitangi claimants - English version
PDF
221.37 KB
Guidelines for Treaty of Waitangi claimants - Māori version
PDF
217.86 KB

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