Source: New Zealand Government
Nga uri o Ngāti Maru (Taranaki) witnessed the first reading of the Ngāti Maru (Taranaki) Claims Settlement Bill today at Parliament, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little says.
“Ngāti Maru is the final iwi in Taranaki to settle their historic Treaty of Waitangi claims. I want to acknowledge Ngāti Maru and the Crown negotiations teams for their hard work to reach this important milestone, Andrew Little said.
“I am honoured to have been a part of getting this Bill through to first reading and look forward to supporting it through the House.”
The historical grievances of Ngāti Maru arise from dispossession, displacement, and dislocation following the Crown’s confiscation of half their traditional lands in the 1860s. Lacking an effective way to retain collective title, Ngāti Maru continued to experience further loss and erosion of tribal structures during the nineteenth century. The Crown’s poor management of reserves set aside for the iwi ultimately deprived Ngāti Maru of control and ownership of remaining lands.
“Crown actions and omissions against Ngāti Maru have resulted in loss of most of their ancestral lands and the dispersal and displacement of their people.
While no Treaty settlement will ever be able to compensate Ngāti Maru for the true measure of the loss they have suffered, I sincerely hope this settlement will go some way to atone for these injustices,” Andrew Little said.
The settlement includes an acknowledgement, apology and redress for the Crown’s historical breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Ngāti Maru will receive financial and commercial redress valued at $30.00 million, including $26.35 million in financial redress, and a Crown forest valued at just over $3.65 million.
Cultural redress includes the vesting of 16 sites of deep cultural significance, including properties located in Tarata, Pūrangi, and two sites along the Tangarakau and Whangamomona Rivers.
Through this settlement the Crown also acknowledges and apologises for its imprisonment and exile of Ngāti Maru people engaged in peaceful protest at Parihaka.
The settlement provides for Taranaki Regional Council and Te Kāhui Maru Trust: Te Iwi o Maruwharanui (the Ngāti Maru post-settlement governance entity) to enter into a joint management agreement in respect of the Waitara River and its catchment.
This will include a role for iwi in the environmental monitoring of the Waitara River.
“This package recognises the longstanding association Ngāti Maru has with the land in their rohe and provides an economic foundation that I hope will benefit many generations of Ngāti Maru to come,” Minister Little said.
Ngāti Maru (Taranaki) is a Taranaki iwi whose rohe is centred on the inland Waitara River valley, and extends from Taranaki Maunga east to the upper Whanganui River.
Ngāti Maru has approximately 3,000 registered members.
Notes for editor:
Kua whakaaetia te pānuitanga tuatahi o te Pire Whakataunga Kokoraho mō Ngāti Maru (Taranaki)
I rangona, i kitea hoki e ngā uri o Ngāti Maru (Taranaki) te pānuitanga tuatahi o te Pire Whakataunga Kokoraho mō Ngāti Maru i Pāremata i tēnei rā, hei tā te Minita mō ngā Take Tiriti, hei tā Andrew Little.
“Ko Ngāti Maru te whakamutunga o ngā iwi o Taranaki ki te whakatau i ā rātou kokoraho tūroa e pā ana ki te Tiriti o Waitangi. E pīrangi ana au ki te mihi ki a Ngāti Maru me ngā rōpū whakawhiti kōrero a te Karauna i tā rātou mahi nui kia tae ki tēnei pae whakatutuki, hei tā Andrew Little.
“He hōnore ki a au te whai wāhi atu ki te kawenga o tēnei Pire ki tōna pānuitanga tuatahi, ka mutu, e hiamo ana au ki te tautoko i te pire mā te Whare.”
I ara mai ngā nawe tūroa o Ngāti Maru i te murunga, i te peinga me te kounutanga i hua mai i muri i tā te Karauna raupatu i tētahi haurua o ō rātou whenua taketake i te tekau tau 1860. I te korenga o tētahi huarahi whaihua kia mau tonu i a rātou he taitara takitini, ka rongo tonu anō a Ngāti Maru i te kore haeretanga me te kurukurunga o ngā tūranga o te iwi i te rautau tekau mā iwa. Nā te hē o te whakahaere a te Karauna i ngā rāhui i tāpuitia rā mō te iwi, ka takahia te mana o Ngāti Maru me tāna whakahaere i ōna whenua e toe ana.
Nā ngā mahi a te Karauna, nā te korenga rānei o āna mahi ki a Ngāti Maru i murua ai te nuinga o ō rātou whenua tūpuna, i tītaritaringia ai, i peia ai hoki ko ō rātou uri ki whenua kē.
Ahakoa kāore rawa atu te utu paremata o te whakataunga Tiriti ki a Ngāti Maru e āta hāngai ki te taumata o te kino kua pā ki a rātou, e pono ana taku tūmanako kia tū ko te whakataunga nei hei huarahi atu ki te whakatikahanga o ēnei takahanga o te ture,” tā Andrew Little.
Ka whai wāhi atu ki te whakataunga tētahi whakaaetanga, tētahi whakapāha me te puretumu mō ngā takahanga tūroa a te Karauna i te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Ka whakawhiwhia ki a Ngāti Maru ko te $30.00 miriona hei puretumu ā-pūtea, ā-arumoni hoki, ka mutu, e $26.35 miriona hei puretumu ā-pūtea, me tētahi ngahere o te Karauna kei paku kō atu i te $3.65 miriona tōna uara.
Ka whai wāhi atu ki te puretumu ā-ahurea ko te whakaūnga o te mana ki ngā wāhi 16 e tino tāpua ā-ahurea ana, tae atu ki ngā rawa wāhi kei Tarata, kei Pūrangi, me ngā wāhi e rua kei ngā tahataha o ngā awa o Tāngarākau me Whangamōmona.
I tēnei whakataunga, e mōhio ana hoki te Karauna, ā, e whakapāha ana ia i tana mauhere, i tana whakamanene hoki i ngā uri o Ngāti Maru i whai rā i te paparenga i Parihaka i runga i te rangimārie.
Mā tēnei whakataunga e pai ai tā te Kaunihera ā-Rohe o Taranaki me Te Kāhui Maru Trust: Te Iwi o Maruwharanui (te hinonga mana hautū o Ngāti Maru i muri i te whakataunga) whai i tētahi whakaaetanga mō te whakahaere ngātahi i te awa o Waitara me tōna hikuwai.
Ka uru atu ki tērā ko tētahi wāhi ki te iwi i te aroturukitanga i te taiao o te awa o Waitara.
“Ko tā tēnei kohinga paremata he whakanui i te ukiuki o te hononga o Ngāti Maru ki te whenua i tō rātou rohe, he whakatakoto tūāpapa ā-ōhanga hoki, ā, ko taku tūmanako, mā tēnei e whaihua ai ngā tini whakatupuranga o Ngāti Maru hei ngā rā e tū mai nei,” te kī a Minita Little.
Ko Ngāti Maru (Taranaki) tētahi o ngā iwi o Taranaki nōna nei te rohe kei te riu o te awa o Waitara i te tuawhenua, ā, e toro atu ana i te maunga o Taranaki ki te rāwhiti, ki te taha whakararo o te awa o Whanganui.
Kei tōna 3,000 te tokomaha o Ngāti Maru kua rēhita hei mema.
He pitopito kōrero mā te ētita:
