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drawn into ‘‘iwi politics’’ as Rangita¯ ne started work on Treaty settlements in the ’ 80s. Bradley felt a certain responsibility, as the eldest child, to contribute to his iwi, Riki said.

‘‘I would say Dad’s milestone of his life was getting the Treaty settlement across the line.’’

Macdonald said that by the ’90s Bradley gained a social work degree and became known for being very good at problem-solving for vulnerable wha¯ nau.

‘‘He always had time for people, it didn’t matter who you were, he just loved people, and helping people. So social work was a good fit.’’

Bradley helped to establish the Rangita¯ ne ru¯ nanga in its modern form with his late brother John. He became chair in 1996, and oversaw the progression of Rangita¯ ne’s settlement, with hearings in 2003 led by Bradley.

‘‘The Waitangi Tribunal said it ran like a well-oiled machine,’’ Macdonald said. That was partly due to the fastidious planning of former Marlborough District Council general manager Bob Pennington QSM, whom Bradley had convinced to help organise the hearings.

He had just retired, and at his farewell Bradley presented him with a tokotoko, a ceremonial walking stick.

‘‘He says, ‘Bob, the tikanga for this is I have to throw this to you, and if you catch it, it’s yours’ . . . he throws it to him and Bob catches it, his mana is suitably uplifted, and in a fit of euphoria he says, ‘if there’s anything I can do for you, let me know’. So a week later we walk into his office and say, ‘Remember what you said’?’’

She also recalled Bradley surprising Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson with a birthday cake, which Finlayson spoke about at Bradley’s funeral. ‘‘Finlayson said he would never forget that . . . such a little thing but it meant so much.’’

The settlement process was completed in 2014, resolving complaints first raised by Rangita¯ ne in a petition in 1861.

Macdonald also worked with Bradley on an aquaculture settlement in 2008, which acknowledged iwi should have been involved as tangata whenua when water space was allocated over the years.

Bradley, then-chair of Te Tauihu Fisheries Forum, heard the Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton was staying in Picton. ‘‘Richard was always about relationships, you can’t do anything without relationships, that’s how his world worked,’’ Macdonald said.

‘‘So we all went down to see Jim at the hotel where he was staying, and Richard talked him into settling the claims for the top of the south iwi.’’

However, Anderton was concerned there was not the political will to forge