Two iwi groupings within Te Arawa confederation are disputing ownership rights to the Whakarewarewa Thermal Valley and adjacent reserve land.
The Maori Affairs Select Committee has heard submitters in Rotorua call each other liars, thieves and bullies over draft Treaty legislation to return Crown land to its pre-European inhabitants.
Ngati Wahiao says it is a small hapu which has continually worked the land, unlike Tuhourangi, which it says was forced to relocate after the 1886 Mount Tarawera eruption.
The larger group says there is only one iwi called Tuhourangi Ngati Wahiao and that it had the mandate to conduct Treaty talks.
A Tuhourangi spokesperson Anaru Rangiheuea says the Ngati Wahiao protesters are misguided by greed.
Ngati Wahiao members say Tuhourangi has no mana whenua, or traditional, claim to the land.
