The Northland tribe Ngati Kahu is challenging the Government to prove that mining benefits indigenous people.
The iwi says it's opposed to any prospector that thinks it can come in and do what it wants on hapu land - and is prepared to use reasonable force to stop them.
An increase in mining and oil exploration is being pushed by the Government, a policy that it says will create a wealthier and more prosperous New Zealand.
But Ngati Kahu chief executive Anahera Herbert-Graves is sceptical of that claim.
She's challenging the Government to provide proof that indigenous communities have benefited from companies digging for minerals and drilling for petroleum.
