Treaty Negotiations Minister Andrew Little said today the Crown apologised for its treatment of the Wairarapa iwi. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The Treaty Negotiations Minister says the Crown is deeply sorry for the way a Wairarapa iwi has been treated.
Today's settlement in Masterton with Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki Nui-a-Rua has taken more than three decades of negotiation.
Andrew Little said today the Crown treated the iwi poorly.
"It began its relationship in 1845 by prejudging their guilt in a dispute with settlers and depriving Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki Nui-a-Rua of tens of thousands of acres by forcing them to cede this land with threats of armed violence."
The settlement includes $115 million in redress and the return of 27 sites of cultural significance.
Little said it has been decades coming.
"The Crown pays tribute to the struggles of Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki Nui-a-Rua and your ancestors in pursuit of justice for the Crown's wrongs and especially to those who have not survived to see the settlement completed.
"To you, to your tupuna and your mokopuna, the Crown offers this apology."
The apology ceremony took place at Queen Elizabeth Park in Masterton.
The iwi also paid tribute to the efforts of Treaty Negotiations ministers over the years.
Iwi representative Rikihana Fox told Little that he has a hard job.
"You'll get people ... screaming and swearing at you but at the same time you'll be sitting right next to them later having cream paua and some crayfish.
"And I couldn't think of a much more rewarding job to have."
The Crown is apologising for the forced ceding of tens of thousands of acres, and the government's failure to provide promised funds, or create a promised reserve for the Wairarapa Lakes.
Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-a-Rua settlement documentation. Photo: Supplied
It marks the end of a process that's taken more than 30 years and proved divisive at several stages - with one affiliated whānau taking a claim to the Supreme Court last year.
The historical account contained within the settlement details nearly two centuries of injustices, starting in 1845 when Ngāti Kahungunu were forced to cede tens of thousands of acres at Maungaroa under threat of Crown invasion.
Ngāti Kahungunu were then put under sustained pressure to sell their remaining land, with the state machinery forcing Māori to give up pastoral leases, through which they had sustained a thriving economy, and the Native Land Court dividing title.
Watch the apology ceremony here:
