The Lost Tribe

Michael Dreaver has listened patiently for 45 minutes on a muggy afternoon in Ranui. The ranchslider is open, assisted by an electric fan battling for breeze, in the cramped pensioner flat. It's a lost cause. The air doesn't budge and everyone sits quietly steaming.
The atmosphere is pretty tense too. Around the small dining table are Lou Paul, Hori Kupenga Manuka, John Paaka Edwards, Sabrina Kidwell and Eriapa Uruamo representing the iwi of Te Taou. I'm in the background with other observers.
Dreaver is no stranger to tension. He was the chief Crown negotiator in the Tamaki Makaurau settlement signed by 12 Auckland tribes last year.
The go-between man for facilitator Sir Douglas Graham, Dreaver is mostly seen as the one who takes the heat out of Treaty negotiations. To others - possibly some in the room - he's known as Michael Cleaver, the Crown hatchet man.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/the-lost-tribe/EV7TJDT3IFPLSK2N5AYTYM7LYE/

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