Wednesday April 10, 2013

Whānau to travel by land and sea for Treaty signing

Members of the South Island-based iwi Ngāti Rārua will travel hundreds of kilometres over land and sea to witness the signing of their Treaty settlement with the Crown.

“Our people are excited that we will soon have a foundation to re-build our iwi for the future and that’s why many of them are taking the 14-hour trip by bus and ferry to share this moment with us,” said Amoroa Luke, chairman of the Ngāti Rārua Iwi Trust which has been leading the negotiations with the Crown.

The signing follows an overwhelming majority (99%) of Ngāti Rārua iwi members voting in favour of the Treaty settlement as well as the new entity, the Ngāti Rārua Settlement Trust, which will receive and manage the settlement assets once the settlement legislation has been passed.

“Our iwi will listen closely to the Crown’s apology for leaving us without sufficient and suitable lands for our needs, which had serious consequences on our social and cultural wellbeing. But it is now time for us to move forward – we’ve got a lot of work to do for our people. This is only the end of the beginning of our Treaty settlement journey,” said Ms Luke.

Under the settlement package Ngāti Rārua will receive a number of cultural, financial and commercial assets, including:

· Financial redress of $11.76 million.

· The opportunity to purchase various properties totalling more than 11,000 hectares including Wairau and Motueka Crown forestry land near Nelson.

· Ownership of six sites of cultural significance.

· Shared ownership, with other iwi, of 10 sites of cultural significance.

· Recognition of the iwi’s values and strong associations with almost every mountain, river, waterway and lake in their tribal area, including, Wairau Bar and Lagoons, Kaka Point and Te Tai Tapu.

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