After being fed by Dannevirke Fire and Rescue and with a coffee cart on hand, the crowd boarded the Steam Inc train and headed south down the Wairarapa, picking up more iwi as they travelled.
The weather was stunning and even a little too hot for the rails, forcing the train to slow on parts of the track that has not seen a train in 5-6 months.
Rawhiti Smith and Robin Potangaroa travelled the carriages talking about historic sites and events.
Arriving at 1pm, the 400 iwi were whisked to Pipitea Marae for a welcome after which while half the iwi stayed to see the event live streamed on the big screen, 200 headed to Parliament to populate the gallery in the debating chamber to hear the third reading of the bill.
Ngāti Kahungunu Tāmaki Nui-a-Rua chairman Hayden Hape said it was rather nerve-racking.
“We were coming to listen to something that’s taken nearly 200 years to resolve. A lot of people have started this mahi and they’re no longer here.”
He said he felt a lot of responsibility but also pride in taking this step in the process, on behalf of those long gone.
He particularly felt pleased for his 96-year-old uncle Ivan Hape who would see this happen. His wife Theo was too unwell to be there but shared in the thrill of it.
Listening to the reading wasn’t something that fazed him but for many of the families it was the first time they had been in the debating chamber and Hape said they were “really excited” to be able to go in there and listen to the Government talking about their settlement.
He said he enjoyed it, especially hearing ministers talk about how important it was and how they supported the iwi in “growing our people and growing our communities”.
The process took two hours as MPs and ministers spoke supporting the settlement, the bill was passed and the settlement now goes for royal assent.
The iwi is already looking at what to prioritise and in the New Year Minister Andrew Little would be visiting the Wairarapa to give the apology to the iwi in person.
“This will be a huge event,” Hape said. “A celebration of the signing of the Agreement in Principle was held at Dannevirke’s town hall in 2016 and the iwi had agreed the apology would be held in the Wairarapa.”
The Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki Nui-a-Rua Claims Settlement is in three parts:
Part one of the bill recorded acknowledgements and apologies offered by the Crown and included a summary of the historical background to the claims.
That history included the forced cession of land, failure to obtain the consent of key rights-holders in land purchases, and purchase of land in both regions which destroyed the lease economy.
“The Crown’s apology also addresses the failure of the Crown to provide many of the education, health and economic benefits which Ngāti Kahungunu had been led to expect as the true payment for their land, and the failure to give suitable lakeside reserves in exchange for the tuku rangatira (chiefly gifting) of the Wairarapa lakes in 1896,” the report from the Māori Affairs committee stated.
Part two of the bill provided for cultural redress including issuing of a Crown minerals protocol, taonga tūturu protocol and geographic name changes.
Part three set out commercial redress, including provision for the transfer of commercial properties.
Hape says the settlement is valued at $165 million which includes $115m in cash and the balance in the property including Lake Wairarapa to be held as a statutory board, several forests like Awakura on Speedy Rd and Akitio School.
This whole Treaty weekend is truly historical and has been captured on film for posterity. The iwi arrived home by bus at about 10pm knowing they had witnessed probably the most important 18 hours of their lives.
Hape says now the next big step is to make good use of the settlement.
He said, “I am excited by the iwi’s new ability to do things beneficial for the whānau and the community until now not financially possible.”
