April 17, 2014
Ka Mate theme for settlement bills
A bill acknowledging Ngati Toa Rangatira’s ownership of the haka Ka Mate passed its third reading in Parliament this morning.
Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples told the House that at the time its chief Te Rauparaha signed the Treaty of Waitangi, Ngati Toa was a powerful economic force in the lower North Island and top of the South.
But the Treaty changed the ground rules forever, and the Crown’s subsequent military action and land purchases were pervasive and unrelenting, leaving Ngati Toa virtually landless without reserves or endowments.
The bill was part of a package passed today settling the claims of Ngati Toa on both sides of Cook Strait and the claims of the other iwi in Te Tau Ihu, including Ngati Apa, Ngati Kuia, Rangitane, Ngati Koata, Ngati Rarua, Ngati Tama, and Te Atiawa.
The settlements will deliver about $200 million in cash, land and assets to the eight tribes.
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