A new era began this weekend, when the iwi and hapu of Wairoa received the fifth largest Treaty of Waitangi settlement to date and an apology from the Government for past wrongdoings.
In Wairoa on Saturday, a deed of settlement totalling $100 million was signed between the Crown and the iwi and hapu of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa, settling their historical treaty claims.
Whanau members of the original claimants were among those who gathered at Takitimu Marae to witness the signing, joined by MPs, Crown officials, iwi and hapu representatives.
Te Tira Whakaemi o Te Wairoa Chairman Tamati Olsen said this represented a significant turning point for the iwi and hapu of Wairoa.
"We remember those who have passed along the way as we have negotiated this settlement. Their guidance and their struggles are what kept both the negotiators and our governance group going even when times got tough," Mr Olsen said.
"Our people have waited for over thirty years to get to this point."
The settlement provided an acknowledgement, apology and redress for the Crown's historical breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi, as well as commercial and financial redress totalling $100 million.
This included the transfer of interests in the Wharerata Forest and Patunamu Crown Forest Licensed land as well as the right to buy a number of land-banked properties for up to two years. Five sites of cultural significance would be vested in the area's iwi and hapu who would gift them back to the Crown for the people of New Zealand.