Second Bay of Plenty tribe settles Treaty claims

Today in Kawerau, after a dawn hikoi, the Kawerau-based tribe Ngäti Tuwharetoa (Bay of Plenty), also known as Tuwharetoa ki Kawerau, signed a Deed of Settlement with the Crown.

The signing comes after the members of the iwi voted 95% in support of the Deed of Settlement.

The Deed includes a Crown apology, $10.5 million in financial redress along with cultural redress recgnising the traditional, historical, cultural and spiritual associations to places and key sites within the Ngäti Tuwharetoa (Bay of Plenty) area.

Treaty Negotiations Minister Margaret Wilson said the iwi suffered from the confiscation of much of their traditional lands in the 19th century.

“When land was eventually returned, it was without regard for traditional ownership and much of the returned land was subsequently alienated.”

“This settlement allows the Crown to right past wrongs, and it allows the iwi to begin to re-establish its economic base.”

The settlement will be enacted by legislation once the iwi has established an appropriate governance entity to receive the settlement redress.

Margaret Wilson congratulated the iwi’s negotiators. “The high support for the Deed of Settlement by the people reflects their hard work.”

This is the fifth Treaty settlement reached by this Government and the second with a Bay of Plenty tribe. Ngäti Awa of the Bay of Plenty signed a Deed of Settlement with the Crown in March.

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