The Crown signed a deed of settlement with Ngāi Tai Tāmaki at Umupuia Marae, Maraetai in November.
The deed settles the historical grievances of the iwi and includes an acknowledgement and apology for the acts, omissions and historical breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi committed by the Crown.
Ngāi Tai Tāmaki were rendered virtually landless by the late nineteenth century. In the decades following the signing of the Treaty, the Crown acquired large tracts of land in the iwi’s rohe and confiscated 51,000 acres of land from the East Wairoa area.
“This settlement provides a basis for Ngāi Tai Tāmaki to develop a much stronger future and an opportunity for a genuine partnership with the Crown,” said Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Christopher Finlayson.
Ngāi Tai Tāmaki is a member of the Tāmaki Collective and one of the twelve iwi of the Hauraki Collective.
Its area of interest is centred in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland extending to Hauraki/Coromandel and, in particular, the coastline, harbours and islands of the Tīkapa Moana/Hauraki Gulf and Waitematā Harbour.
