July 21, 2016
Wairoa settlement set for signing
Te Tira Whakaemi o Te Wairoa has opened voting on its $100 million treaty settlement offer.
Chair Tamati Olsen says if accepted it will be the fifth largest settlement so far in terms of financial redress.
He says it will give Wairoa iwi and hapu the ability to restore and advance the cultural, economic and social wellbeing of its people and the entire region.
The settlement acknowledges the crown started a war with the iwi on Christmas Day 1865, carried out summary executions of prisoners, and detained others without trial on the Chatham Islands.
It also admits the injustice of crown land buying activities, including the way it seized control of Lake Waikaremoana and created Te Urewera National Park.
The first of nine information hui will be held this afternoon at Wairoa College, followed by Napier tomorrow and the Wharewaka in Wellington on Sunday.
Voting will close on August 26.
For more information, visit www.tetirawhakaemi.iwi.nz
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