Four tribal Tainui groups pulled out of going to the Government's first consultation hui on water rights in Hamilton on Tuesday.
It's the first of a series with iwi and hapu with ties to waterways used by state-owned power companies, such as Mighty River Power.
Representatives from Waikato-Tainui, Ngati Koroki Kahukura, the Hauraki Maori Trust Board, Ngati Raukawa, and the chair of the pan-Tainui tribal group, Tainui Waka Alliance, say they stayed away from Tuesday's meeting.
Waikato-Tainui executive chair Tom Roa says his tribe opted not to go because in-house talks are needed first.
He says it's best not to meet with the Crown until his people have clarity about the direction of talks with the Government.
Hauraki Maori Trust chair David Taipari says his board also stayed away.
He says hapu and iwi need their rights to proprietary water rights recognised first and until that happens, there's no point in meeting the Government.
Mr Taipari says Hauraki also needs to come together since the Maori King's hui last week, which resolved that iwi and hapu throughout the motu need to unite over the matter of water.
Ngati Raukawa says that though it did not attend on Tuesday it would go to another government consultation hui being held on Wednesday morning.
Tainui Waka Alliance chair Harry Mikaere says he could not go to the first hui because of another engagement.
