Eight tribes involved in the Central North Island treaty settlement have four months to decide how to divide up Kaingaroa Forest.

Ngati Manawa from Murupara took legal action against seven other tribes, including Tuhoe, Ngati Whakaue, Ngati Tuwharetoa and Ngati Rangitihi, because they missed a self-imposed deadline to consider the mana whenua (ownership) of 176,000ha of forest. If after four months they still can't decide, the matter will go before the High Court.

Ngati Manawa lawyer Kathy Ertel said the iwi was pleased it had been cleared to go to court. They were also pleased the tribes would now revisit a mediation process that was part of the original settlement but had failed.

The ownership process includes identifying traditional tribal areas, negotiations and adjudication to determine each tribe's share.

The land was transferred in 2009 to the CNI collective and the two-year ownership process was to have been completed in June. Iwi themselves, rather than the Crown, were to decide which areas of the returned land would belong to each iwi.

Te Runanga o Ngati Manawa chairman Maurice Toetoe said the collective would meet on November 24 to decide the next step. He said there had been issues over timeframes and budget during the adjudication phase.

According to a Ngati Manawa newsletter published in June the adjudication panel resigned because "they felt they could not do justice to the Mana Whenua Process by the 25th [of] June".

Ngati Manawa had previously asserted its mana whenua over the Kaingaroa Forest. Ngati Manawa kaumatua and Maori Party president Pem Bird told the Daily Post earlier this year Kaingaroa was a crucial part of the iwi's identity and pride.

"Kaingaroa is to us what Te Urewera is to Tuhoe and Lake Taupo is to Tuwharetoa."

He said he believed Kaingaroa was only about money to others but to Ngati Manawa it had historical and cultural significance.

Mr Bird has previously said Ngati Manawa was bitter and disillusioned that the forests and lands had been used with the full backing of Parliament to settle Tuhoe and Tuwharetoa commercial redress, without acknowledgement of Ngati Manawa's status.

"We don't dispute the sheer cruelty of the acts perpetrated against Tuhoe by the Crown, but we do take umbrage at being the cash cow to settle their's and other iwi grievances," he said.

Former Te Runanga o Ngati Manawa chairman Patrick McManus said Ngati Manawa were the "little people", whose land interests in Kaingaroa had been endangered by larger, more politically influential iwi.