Ngāpuhi will spend up to $50,000 to test support for Tuhoronuku - the board claiming the right to drive the iwi's Treaty settlement.
Ngāpuhi chair Hone Sadler Photo: Supplied
Negotiations are at a stalemate after Tuhoronuku leaders boycotted a transition process recommended by the Waitangi Tribunal to give hapū more control.
Ngāpuhi chair Hone Sadler said Tuhoronuku would hold hui throughout Tai Tokerau, Auckland and other centres throughout this month to seek people's views.
The board is also commissioning a Horizon poll to allow those unable to attend hui, to have a say on the settlement negotiations.
Mr Sadler said because the Crown was now withholding funding for Tuhoronuku, it had been forced to go to the iwi authority, Te Runanga-a-iwi o Ngapuhi for the money for the poll, and the hui.
Runanga chair Sonny Tau is also deputy chair of Tuhoronuku.