Whanganui iwi leaders delivered a clear message to the Crown as they signed an historic Treaty settlement on Saturday: the relationship must change.
After nearly a decade of formal negotiations and generations of groundwork, more than 350 people gathered at Kaiwhaiki Marae to witness the signing of He Rau Tukutuku by Ngā Hapū o Te Iwi o Whanganui and Crown ministers.
“This is not a pathway where we come seeking justice,” negotiator Kahurangi Simon told Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith.
“We have never expected justice from these processes. But we do expect sincerity.”
Simon said Whanganui tūpuna did not sign away their mana.
“They expected relationship, reciprocity and the protection of rangatiratanga. But what followed was not sincerity. It was inconsistency. It was contradiction. It was breach after breach after breach.
“This is a pattern of insincerity. It cannot continue if we are to thrive as a nation.”
The $45.5 million settlement covers a redress area from Whanganui city and the river mouth, extending inland along the Whanganui River to Pīpīriki and reaching toward Taihape, the Whangaehu River and Whanganui National Park.
It builds on decades of advocacy by hapū seeking redress for grievances dating back to the 19th century.
In a formal apology delivered by Goldsmith, the Crown admitted it had repeatedly failed to uphold the partnership promised under Te Tiriti o Waitangi, causing “immense harm” to Whanganui hapū since its signing in 1840.
“Partnerships are built on trust, respect, understanding. And across those areas, the Crown has frequently fallen short,” Goldsmith said.
The Crown admitted it failed to act in good faith in early land transactions, including the 1848 deal that resulted in unfair pricing and the loss of kāinga. It acknowledged imposing land laws that individualised ownership and accelerated the alienation of whenua, undermining traditional iwi and hapū structures.
The apology also confronts a history of conflict and injustice, including the exile of tūpuna to Tasmania in 1846, the imposition of martial law in 1847, and Crown actions in the 1860s that led to war and bloodshed in Whanganui.
It recognises the division caused between hapū labelled “hostile,” and the lasting stigma that followed.
The Crown acknowledged large-scale land loss through public works takings and “scenery preservation” along the Whanganui River, as well as the long-term impacts of the Native Land Court system.
“The Crown is sincerely sorry for its failure to protect your collective control over large areas of land you still retained, and for the bitter losses of other land which left you feeling marginalised in your own whenua,” Goldsmith said.
“The Crown deeply regrets that your people have suffered from socio-economic deprivation, which has led many to leave their kāinga, and to become disconnected from their tūrangawaewae, and for its failure to protect te reo Māori within the Whanganui rohe.”
Goldsmith paid tribute to the resilience and mana of Whanganui iwi and hapū, and expressed a desire to rebuild the relationship for future generations.
“The Crown humbly seeks, at long last, to respond with reconciliation and truly live up to the aspirations of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Treaty of Waitangi.”
Ken Mair, lead negotiator and chair of the Whanganui Land Settlement Negotiations Trust, said the Deed of Settlement was not an act of Crown generosity.
“It is a fulfilment, in part, of an obligation long overdue, and even then it is only a step. Because no settlement can fully account for what was taken.
“It has not restored or returned every acre of whenua stolen from us. It cannot return the generations who lived and died without justice.”
But Mair said the day mattered as a day of recognition and accountability.
“[It is] a day when the truth of our history stands in full view, and it is a day where our hapū, our iwi takes another step forward.”
Before the signing, iwi historian, researcher and Pou Tupua (voice of the river) Turama Hawira said the settlement had been undertaken knowing that it was “never going to be fair and equitable”.
However, it had brought unforeseen benefits.
“One of the hidden taonga that will be returned is the huge archive of knowledge that will be acknowledged today [along with] those old people who began this journey with us and are no longer here, and the ultimate value of the kōrero they’ve left behind as a continued guideline and legacy to us.”
Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka told those gathered to continue to engage with the Crown and hold it accountable.
“It’s only through the mahi tahi and working effectively together as rangatira and the kāwana that we’re going to achieve this kaupapa of ōritetanga (equality), that we’re going to achieve more equality of opportunities and equality of outcomes.”
Redress includes the transfer of 27 sites of significance, including Pākaitore, alongside statutory acknowledgements over reserves and conservation areas.
A $15.5 million cultural revitalisation fund will support marae development and te reo Māori, while a $30 million financial and commercial package aims to create opportunities for future generations.
The agreement also provides the right to purchase 62 properties, including forestry land and sites such as the new courthouse and police “justice hub” site and Whanganui Intermediate School, as well as first right of refusal over specific Crown-owned properties.
The day unfolded peacefully despite earlier social media threats to disrupt proceedings, with a visible police presence including senior officers.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
