A Nelson-Motueka Maori land trust has taken its bid to negotiate its land claim to the United Nations.
James Wheeler from Whakatu Incorporation says Te Kahui Ngahuru Trust was used as a case study by the Aotearoa Indigenous Rights Trust during the New Zealand Government's four-yearly report to the United Nations Human Rights Committee.
Waatea News reports the trust lodged the first Waitangi Tribunal claim in the South Island, but the Crown insists it will talk only with iwi.
At issue is the 45,000 hectares of reserves Maori owners were supposed to get when they sold land to the Government in 1841.
Mr Wheeler says the land was dissipated and mismanaged by the native trustee and the Maori trustee over a long period of time.
He says the amount got back - 2993 acres - has been managed since 1977, but it is still all perpetually leased.
He says he has written to the Minister for Treaty Negotiations seeking direct talks on the WAI 56 claims.
