The Crown's settlement with Whanganui Iwi sets up the entity Te Awa Tupua, giving legal status to the river as a recognised being, the ancestor of Whanganui iwi.
And iwi now have control again of the riverbed.
After gravel was taken from the river and iwi sought compensation, the Crown was given ownership of the Whanganui riverbed in 1903 under the Coal Mines Act.
It should be noted that the deed of settlement has yet to be signed - the Crown and iwi have just laid out what they have agreed to since they began negotiations in 2009.
It will need to be ratified by iwi members and made law.
And it is separate from land claims.
There are fish hooks in the proposed settlement. There are no water rights. The Crown says this is consistent with the iwi view that the river and its waters can't be owned.
And while local government can "consider and take into account" the Te Awa Tupua, or Whole of River Strategy, there is no mandatory compliance. Iwi will have no veto or ability to change local government decision-making except by discussion and persuasion.
For now the settlement is testament to the thousands of hours of arduous work and unpaid labour put into such claims. Patience and persistence are not only a virtue but a necessity.
Sadly, because these investigations, discussions and negotiations take many, many years, those who have put the most in over the longest period often have the shortest time to enjoy the results.
But such agreements are always for the future.
Now it's a case of wait and see what happens, both in terms of how a river will have its own voice and what will change.
A little premature perhaps, but congratulations to all those that have done the hard yards.
