The Crown signed an Agreement in Principle with Ngati Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tamaki Nui-a-Rua to settle its historical Treaty of Waitangi claims on Saturday.
Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Christopher Finlayson said it marked an important step.
The Agreement in Principle sets out a broad settlement package which includesa Crown apology as well as financial and commercial redress of $93 million, and the opportunity to purchase Crown-owned properties.
Cultural redress includes the vesting of 19 Crown-owned sites of cultural significance to the iwi and four sites to be shared with Rangitne o Wairarapa and Rangitane o Tamaki Nui-a-Rua.
The Ngati Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tamaki Nui-a-Rua rohe, or territory, comprises 1 million hectares spread throughout the wider Wairarapa and Tamaki Nui-a-Rua regions, from north of Dannevirke to just beyond Cape Turnagain and down to Cape Palliser, and encompassing the area east of the Tararua, Ruahine and Rimutaka ranges.
