Hundreds gathered from around the country to hear the Crown apology to Ōpōtiki iwi Te Whakatōhea on Saturday.
The acknowledgement of and apology for the Crown's breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi was delivered by Minister of Treaty Negotiations Andrew Little.
The event was held 183 years to the day after Whakatōhea rangatira signed the Treaty of Waitangi. It was part of a settlement package that included financial redress totalling $100 million.
Cultural redress included 33 sites of significance to the iwi, including the site where the event was held, Papa Takaro o Whitikau, an area of land near the confluence of the Otara and Waioeka rivers in the heart of the township, previously known as Volkner Island.
Commercial redress included 18 Crown properties and 5000 hectares of marine space for aquaculture.
Andrew Little receives a wero (challenge) delivered from horseback. Photo: Diane McCarthy/ Whakatāne Beacon
Little was greeted with a powhiri onto the Whitikau grounds which included a wero (challenge) delivered from horseback.
The wero was part of a re-enactment of the Battle of Te Tarata in 1865.
The Eastern Bay of Plenty iwi Treaty settlement has been one of the longest running and most contentious.
An initial $40 million offer rejected in 1996, after which the claims process languished for a decade before beginning again in the late 2010s.
At the end of 2022, the majority of the iwi, voted to accept the Crown's settlement offer.
The Waitangi Tribunal described the Crown's actions around Ōpōtiki as "among the worst Treaty breaches in this country's history".
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