December 16, 2015
Unsurrendered rebels prepare to settle
A negotiator for Ngati Hinerangi says while a settlement won’t make up for what the Tainui iwi has lost through colonisation, it’s an opportunity for the crown to atone for past wrongs.
The iwi has signed an agreement in principle that puts them on track for a $8 million settlement by this time next year, along with the return of significant sites in the Kaimai Ranges.
Morehu McDonald says the iwi was strategically located on both sides of the ranges from Te Aroha to Matamata and over to Omokoroa, which meant it was drawn into the battles of 1864.
It continued to resist the surveying and confiscation of land in its rohe.
"Ngaiterangi – Ngati Ranginui surrendered in 1864. We carried on and that led to the bush campaign in 1867. Military columns were sent in to chase and hunt out our people, destroy villages, burn crops, and shoot our people on sight which is what happened. We carried that hara and that hurt and that stigma of being the unsurrendered rebels and being treated very badly since that time up until this," Mr McDonald says.
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