The Ngati Whatua o Orake Maori Trust Board has been in talks with the Office of Treaty Settlements concerning the 33,000 hectares of key real estate that the Crown took from the Hapu in 1840. This real estate covers much of downtown Auckland, the North Shore, and Waitakere city. The 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, which gave the Crown the aforementioned land, was considered by the Hapu to be a taku rangatira, granting of access to land and resources in exchange for an alliance. Buying and selling were foreign concepts to the Hapu, and the exchange was not considered to be an irreversible transfer. The issue is not whether the land belongs to the Hapu, but what the settlement should be. Although not officially stated, it has been hinted that the Hapu would like an alliance with the Crown for community ventures as a part of their settlement package.
