Parihaka Pa in Taranaki has called on Crown regulators and petroleum companies to halt exploration and mining in the region immediately.
A letter from the pa's three meeting houses details fears about rig-worker safety, climate-change impacts and pollution from drilling chemicals and petroleum.
It also says the naming of petroleum prospecting blocks after Parihaka and one of its founders is offensive.
The Government says it is talking to Taranaki's Crown-mandated iwi leaders who are interested in a slice of any minerals bonanza that results.
Separately, more than three dozen plaintiffs have joined Te Huirangi Waikerepuru, a Taranaki kaumatua, in asking the Maori Land Court to declare New Zealand's seabed as Maori land.
