settlement brings joy

Congratulations to Ngati Pahauwera iwi who sign their Treaty settlement in Hawke's Bay today.

From Stuff

Iwi negotiator Toro Waaka expects about 1000 people to attend the ceremony at Waipapa-a-Iwi Marae, north of Napier.

"There's a lot of joy among all our people ... that we've finally nutted this out," Mr Waaka said yesterday. "It's taken 20 years." The iwi receive assets worth up to $70 million and an apology from the Crown.

The iwi has just over 7000 registered members and its territory is centred on the Mohaka River, extending north almost to Wairoa.

Two farms and 1087ha of Conservation Department land are also part of the agreement. Reserve land would remain open to the public, Mr Waaka said.

The deal includes $2m for river enhancement initiatives, which will apply particularly to the Mohaka and its tributary the Taharua, both of which have become polluted. A decline in whitebait, long-finned eels and other creatures in these rivers was concerning the iwi, he said.

This is a start for this iwi and it is good that the settlement has been agreed to. Each step in the right direction gets us closer to the goal.

"We've got to be pragmatic," Mr Waaka said. "There's no way the Crown could repay all the land it's taken and all the resources it's taken.

"Our ancestors were petitioning the Crown in the 1850s and 1860s."