Ngāti Apa ki te Ra Tō Deed Of Settlement signed
Ngāti Apa ki te Ra Tō Deed Of Settlement signed
The Crown and Ngāti Apa ki te Ra Tō have signed the second Deed of Settlement to be completed in the northern South Island (Te Tau Ihu) this year, Treaty Negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson announced today.
The Deed of Settlement sets out commercial redress worth over $28 million and includes an apology for historical breaches of the Treaty, the return of culturally significant sites, and other Crown properties. The Deed was signed at Omaka Marae on Friday 29 October.
“I am very pleased to celebrate reaching a settlement with Ngāti Apa,” Mr Finlayson said. “The complex historical relationships between the claimant groups in Te Tau Ihu made settlement negotiations an enormous challenge. Ngāti Apa’s negotiators have skilfully and constructively negotiated their unique claims and their clear-sighted leadership has created an important legacy for their people”
Ngāti Apa is the second of eight iwi with interests in Te Tau Ihu (the northern South Island) to complete a settlement. Ngāti Apa negotiators initialled the Deed of Settlement on 27 August 2010, and the people of Ngāti Apa voted in support of the Deed with an approval rate of 99%. Ngāti Apa’s historical claims were heard at the Waitangi Tribunal between 2000 and 2004 and they began negotiations with the Crown as part the Kurahaupō ki te Waipounamu collective in 2006. The three iwi in this collective signed a Letter of Agreement outlining a broad settlement package in February 2009. The first of the collective to sign a Deed of Settlement was Ngāti Kuia on 23 October.
“This settlement is the second of several I expect to be completed around the country over the next few months,” Mr Finlayson said. “Treaty Negotiations are progressing at a greater rate than ever before. The government is standing by its commitment to resource the settlement process and drive it to its conclusion, to put right the wrongs of the past and help iwi and hapu build stronger futures for their people.”
Ngāti Apa ki te Ra Tō are distinct from North Island iwi Ngāti Apa, whose settlement was signed in 2008.
ENDS