The Treaty Negotiations Minister is confident Ngapuhi wants to continue to work towards a settlement.

Late last year Andrew Little met with various hapu, and he’s keen to meet with both the board that holds the legal mandate, Tuhoronuku, and hapu alliance Kotahitanga, while he’s in the North for Waitangi.

Ngapuhi is a huge Iwi, with more than 20,000 members.

Mr Little says the Crown’s been under pressure to sort out its negotiating relationship with Ngapuhi and he’s seeking to do that.

"I think we are close to a point now where we can reach an agreement on what that representation structure should look like and get negotiations underway."

It’s nearing a decade since talks began between Ngapuhi Iwi and the Crown.

Mr Little says he is not raking over the coals or pointing the finger of blame at anyone for that.

"We are where we are at. I've got stuck in talking to people and I'm confident that as a consequence of that and the mahi that's been done up until now, that we can will get around the table this year and we will get a good set of negotiations underway."