A representative of a Tuhoe tribal authority says iwi members who aren't happy with the signing of a deed of settlement won't be able to stop progress.
The deed - signed by Tuhoe and the Crown at Parliament last Friday - includes a Crown apology and acknowledgment of Treaty of Waitangi breaches, as well as redress worth about $170 million.
Te Umutaoroa is a group of Waitangi Tribunal iwi claimants that pulled away from the tribe's mandated negotiating body, Te Kotahi a Tuhoe.
A representative of Te Komiti o Runga Tribal Authority, which encompasses Taneatua and Ruatoki, Paki Nikora, says the door remains open.
He says his gut feeling is that they won't be able to stop the waka, so it makes sense for everyone to come back under the same umbrella.
But a member of Te Umutaoroa is critical of Mr Nikora's comments.
Kirituia Tumarae, who is part of a Waitangi Tribunal claim regarding Maungapohatu, says there is always hope that progress on the deed of settlement for Tuhoe can be stopped, no matter what anyone says.
