Ngati Pukenga treaty settlement a time for reflection
Ngati Pukenga treaty settlement a time for
reflection
Tauranga iwi Ngati Pukenga has
today signed a deed of settlement with the Crown to settle
its Treaty of Waitangi claims.
Hundreds of members
of Ngati Pukenga, other iwi, guests and representatives of
the Crown gathered at Te Whetu o te Rangi marae at Welcome
bay to sign a deed of settlement
Ngati Pukenga was
left virtually landless after the Crown initiated military
conflict in 1864 and subsequently confiscated large tracts
of land in the Western Bay of Plenty. This was despite the
fact Ngati Pukenga had honoured an early agreement with the
Crown not to engage in the conflict.
Ngati Pukenga
got scattered to four small kainga (settlements) between
Whangarei, Welcome Bay (Tauranga) Manaia (Coromandel),
Maketu
The settlement includes financial and
commercial redress of $5 million, the return of culturally
significant properties including Liens block, Pae ki
Hauraki, Te Tihi o Hauturu and Otukopiri, $500,000 for
cultural revitalisation and $180,000 for marae
revitalisation in Manaia.
Rehua Smallman Chairman
of Te Au Maaro o Pukenga (the body which has negotiated the
claims on before of Ngati Pukenga descendents) said the
signing the deed of settlement was a time for reflection not
celebration.
“It was bad enough that our land
got confiscated in the first place. But, to then be shut out
of the Native Land court process in the 1880s that saw some
iwi get some of their land back really rubbed salt into the
wounds,” Mr Smallman said.
“However, our
people voted overwhelmingly to accept this deal so we could
all move on and try to build a better future for our
mokopuna,” he said.
Lead Claims Negotiator
Rahera Ohia said it the settlement process is arduous and
sometimes divisive which at times can pit you against your
neighbours and your relations.
“Our forebears
have protested the actions of the Crown and fought for
wrongs to be addressed since the 1800s. Those of us here
are the mouthpiece of those who carried this fight for over
a century,” Ms Ohia said.
“It was a courageous
decision by our people to overwhelmingly accept this
settlement and give us the opportunity as a people to move
forward.
ENDS