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The Government has put a price tag of $18 million on the enslavement of Moriori.
An agreement in principle with Hokotehi Moriori Trust to settle the historical Treaty of Waitangi claims of Moriori was signed yesterday after a year of intense negotiation.
When the crown annexed the island in 1842 it ignored Moriori pleas to end the enslavement which started when two Taranaki iwi migrated to the Chatham Islands in 1835.
Treaty Negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson says Moriori was left virtually landless from 1870, hindering its cultural, social and economic development.
The Crown also acknowledges its contribution to the myths that the people of Moriori were racially inferior and became extinct.
The Moriori population is now estimated to be about 3500.
The agreement remains subject to addressing overlapping interests with Ngati Mutunga o Wharekauri, which has identical areas of geographical interest.
As well as financial and commercial redress of $18 million, some crown land will be transferred in cultural redress and there will be a co-management regime with Ngati Mutunga and the Department of Conservation over Te Whanga Lagoon.
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