May 24, 2017
Date set for Parihaka reconciliation
June 9 has been set as the date for He Puanga Haeata, the long-awaited Parihaka-Crown reconciliation ceremony at the historic village under Taranaki maunga.
Issues relating to the sacking of Parihaka in 1881 and the imprisonment of its men in the South Island were taken out of the Taranaki Iwi treaty settlement and negotiated by the Parihaka Papakainga Trust with Christopher Finlayson in his role as Attorney General rather than Treaty Negotiations Minister.
The trust says He Puanga Haeata will be a day of national and international significance.
Mr Finlayson will deliver a crown apology and sign Te Kawenata o Rongo, a Deed of Reconciliation.
The trust says no amount of money will ever compensate for injustices of the past, and what the crown has offered is seen as a starting point of a new relationship.
There will be a direct payment to Parihaka for development of infrastructure of $9 million plus 15 percent interest.
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