02/07: Largest Settlement to Date
Category: History making
Posted by: Admin
Treelords a first step for Tuhoe
By TIM DONOGHUE - The Dominion Post | Thursday, 26 June 2008
The Tuhoe people came in from the Urewera mist to Parliament and signed their first agreement with any government.
Tamati Kruger, senior Tuhoe signatory for the $500 million central North Island forestry deal which seven iwi signed at Parliament yesterday, went out of his way to play down the significance of the tribe's first deal with a government.
He said he realised it would take a year for the historic piece of Treaty legislation, backed by Labour and National, to be passed before the tribe's $62 million can be banked. "It's the first deal Tuhoe has done with the Government in 168 years. Our big battle still lies ahead."
The 350 Tuhoe tribal members who came to Parliament for the signing were at the starting line of a marathon involving the resolution of historical claims.
The deal will have to be done directly with the Government as Tuhoe did not sign the Treaty of Waitangi. Mr Kruger said Tuhoe still regarded itself as an independent nation.
He was grateful Treaty Negotiations Minister Michael Cullen had agreed on direct negotiations with his tribe. "We are dealing directly with Dr Cullen because the system does not allow us to deal with sovereignty and constitutional issues before the Waitangi Tribunal."
About 800 Maori came to Parliament to witness the signing of the deal, the largest agreement reached in the Treaty settlements process.
The deal involves 176,000 hectares of crown forest land, worth $195.7 million, about $223 million in rent that has accumulated on the land since 1989, and annual income of $13 million.
The seven iwi - Ngai Tuhoe, Ngati Tuwharetoa, Raukawa, Ngati Manawa, Ngati Whare, Ngati Whakaue and a group of 11 Te Arawa iwi and hapu - represent more than 100,000 people.
By TIM DONOGHUE - The Dominion Post | Thursday, 26 June 2008
The Tuhoe people came in from the Urewera mist to Parliament and signed their first agreement with any government.
Tamati Kruger, senior Tuhoe signatory for the $500 million central North Island forestry deal which seven iwi signed at Parliament yesterday, went out of his way to play down the significance of the tribe's first deal with a government.
He said he realised it would take a year for the historic piece of Treaty legislation, backed by Labour and National, to be passed before the tribe's $62 million can be banked. "It's the first deal Tuhoe has done with the Government in 168 years. Our big battle still lies ahead."
The 350 Tuhoe tribal members who came to Parliament for the signing were at the starting line of a marathon involving the resolution of historical claims.
The deal will have to be done directly with the Government as Tuhoe did not sign the Treaty of Waitangi. Mr Kruger said Tuhoe still regarded itself as an independent nation.
He was grateful Treaty Negotiations Minister Michael Cullen had agreed on direct negotiations with his tribe. "We are dealing directly with Dr Cullen because the system does not allow us to deal with sovereignty and constitutional issues before the Waitangi Tribunal."
About 800 Maori came to Parliament to witness the signing of the deal, the largest agreement reached in the Treaty settlements process.
The deal involves 176,000 hectares of crown forest land, worth $195.7 million, about $223 million in rent that has accumulated on the land since 1989, and annual income of $13 million.
The seven iwi - Ngai Tuhoe, Ngati Tuwharetoa, Raukawa, Ngati Manawa, Ngati Whare, Ngati Whakaue and a group of 11 Te Arawa iwi and hapu - represent more than 100,000 people.
