September 23, 2022
Manaipoto settlement a long time coming says Maniapoto kaumatua Tiwha Bell
Former Chairperson of the Maniapoto Māori Trust Board, koroua and esteemed leader Tiwha Bell, was among the three hundred strong group to attend the final reading on Thursday of the Maniapoto Settlement Deed at parliament.
The eighty- eight year-old, boarded the train in Te Kuiti with his eldest mokopuna Shannon, to make the trip to Wellington.
“It was an event that I wasn’t going to miss “, he said, especially as it’s taken over thirty long years, to get our voices heard, and our treaty claims acknowledged.
Tiwha Bell who was the longest serving Chairperson of the Maniapoto Māori Trust Board, described yesterday’s gathering as both moving and significant.
“To hear politicians acknowledge the many injustices our Iwi faced as a result of broken promises by the Crown, was important, especially as we had so many of our rangatahi in attendance. They need to know our history, and why we as an Iwi worked so hard to finally have our treaty claims recognized.” he said.
A formal apology to the Iwi of Maniapoto will be delivered as part of the conclusion of the negotiation process, by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at Te Tokanganui a Noho marae in Te Kuiti, on the 4th of December.
Story: Te Huinga Jackson Greenland