February 23, 2014
Kawerau a Maki secure land for future
Te Kawerau a Maki has had its ancestral connections to west Auckland and the Waitakere ranges formally recognised.
On Saturday at Tamaki Makaurau Marae in Ihumatao Treaty Negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson and tribal representatives signed a deed of settlement acknowledging how the iwi had been made landless in a process that stretched from the wars of the 1860s to well into last century.
The signing was attended by Maori King Tuheitia, emphasising the fact it’s the first settlement by one of the Tainui-affiliated iwi within the Tamaki Collective.
Negotiator Te Warena Taua says Ihumatao was where his ancestors left to support their Waikato-Tainui relatives when British forces invaded in 1863.
Many were killed at Rangiriri after they had laid down their weapons.
"So were Te Kawerau a Maki part of the Kingitanga? You bet. Were they part of Waikato? Absolutely. Did they lose land as part of the confiscation? Not in Waitakere, because it had already been sold by someone else, but we lost a total of 1300 acres here (at Ihumatao). When the able came back (from the war) only did they then realise that when the government said ‘we will take your lands’ they took it'" Mr Taua says.
The settlement includes commercial redress worth $6.5 million, which will be used to buy 86 percent of the Riverhead Forest land.
There will be a contribution of $300,000 to the establishment of a Te Kawerau a Maki marae at Te Onekiritea Point in Hobsonville.
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