Waikato iwi, Ngati Maniapoto, was greatly offended when a Waitangi Tribunal judge in its rohe stopped a lawyer from questioning witnesses in te reo Maori.
A High Court decision has been reserved on a judicial review of the incident, which took place at the Tribunal's Te Rohe Potae Inquiry in December last year.
The presiding officer of the inquiry, Judge David Ambler, told the counsel for Ngati Pehi Te Kanawa, Alex Hope, that he couldn't cross-examine two English-speakers in te reo Maori.
The claimant for Ngati Pehi Te Kanawa, Liane Green, says everyone was shocked.
She remembers Ngati Maniapoto kaumatua, Harry Kereopa, conducting his closing mihi in English saying he was afraid to speak in te reo Maori.
Ms Green says he went on to describe how offended they were that the right to speak te reo Maori was denied in that setting.
She says the people assumed the Waitangi Tribunal would uphold the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.
