A historic settlement has been reached in New Zealand, granting Mt Taranaki (Taranaki Maunga) the same legal rights as a person, marking the culmination of years of negotiations. This new law means the mountain will effectively “own itself,” with local Māori tribes (iwi) and the government working together to manage it.
The agreement is part of a broader effort to address past injustices inflicted on the Māori people of the Taranaki region, particularly the widespread land confiscations that occurred during colonization. Paul Goldsmith, the government minister overseeing the negotiations, emphasized the importance of acknowledging historical wrongs to help Māori tribes achieve their aspirations and future opportunities.
The Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill, passed by New Zealand’s parliament, officially recognizes the mountain’s legal name and offers protection to its surrounding land and peaks. It also aligns with the Māori worldview, which sees natural landmarks like mountains as ancestors and living entities.
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, co-leader of the Māori Party, celebrated the legislation, saying the mountain was now freed from the “shackles” of past injustices. She is part of the eight iwi from the Taranaki area for whom the mountain holds spiritual significance. Hundreds of other Māori gathered at parliament to witness the bill’s passing into law.
With the settlement, Mt Taranaki will no longer be known as Egmont, a name given by British explorer James Cook in the 18th century, and will instead be referred to as Taranaki Maunga. The national park surrounding the mountain will also adopt its Māori name.
Aisha Campbell, another member of a Taranaki iwi, expressed the importance of the event, highlighting how the mountain connects and unites the Māori people.
This settlement is part of a series of agreements with Māori communities to compensate for violations of the Treaty of Waitangi, which established New Zealand and guaranteed indigenous rights to land and resources. The government also issued an apology for the confiscation of Mt Taranaki and over a million acres of Māori land in the 1860s.
Goldsmith acknowledged that the Treaty breaches caused deep and ongoing harm to the Māori people of Taranaki and affirmed that public access to the mountain would remain unchanged, allowing all New Zealanders to continue enjoying the area for generations to come.
Mt Taranaki joins a growing list of New Zealand natural features to gain legal personhood, following the Urewera native forest in 2014 and the Whanganui River in 2017.
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