Terms of Negotiation were signed between the Crown, Te Atiawa and Taranaki iwi on March 17, the 150th anniversary of the start of the Taranaki land wars.
The Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Christopher Finlayson said he hoped the signing marked the start of a new relationship between the Crown, Te Atiawa and Taranaki iwi. The Terms of Negotiation set out a process for settling the historical claims of Te Atiawa and Taranaki iwi under the Treaty of Waitangi.
‘It’s appropriate that we mark this day in our shared history by signing Terms of Negotiation which are forward-looking and outline agreed guiding principles for the future relationship between the Crown, and Te Atiawa and Taranaki iwi,’ Mr Finlayson said.
Prime Minister John Key, Minister of Maori Affairs Dr Pita Sharples, and Mr Finlayson visited Owae Marae to sign Terms of Negotiation with the Te Atiawa Iwi Authority. Mr Finlayson signed Terms of Negotiation with Taranaki Iwi Trust at Puniho Pa.
‘The Taranaki land wars unfairly labelled Taranaki Maori as rebels,’ Mr Finlayson said. ‘The resulting large-scale confiscation of land under the New Zealand Settlements Act had a devastating effect on iwi and left them unable to sustain their whanau and hapu.
The Taranaki land wars, the large-scale confiscation of land that followed, and the invasion of Parihaka in 1881 and its aftermath have been acknowledged by the Crown in the Waitangi Tribunal as an injustice and as breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi.
See 150 years of land alienation in Taranaki’s Waitara from Cushla Low of the Palmerston North JPD Commission. www.welcom.org.nz/?sid=1262