Iwi members voted in December and January after their negotiation team initialled the deed, Te Pua o Te Riri Kore, in November following seven years of negotiations with the Crown.
Ngāti Hāua Iwi Trust chairman Graham “Tinka” Bell said in November that Te Pua o Te Riri Kore set a foundation for reconciliation, restoration and a revitalised future.
A total of 96.62% (914) of valid votes agreed to the settlement package and post-settlement arrangements.
The voter return was 42% of 2255 eligible voters. Most (78.48%) voted online with 21.52% voting in person or by post.
Ngāti Hāua’s traditional lands extend north and west from Mt Ruapehu and include the upper reaches of the Whanganui River.
The trust has negotiated financial redress of $20.4m and a $6m cultural revitalisation fund to support the return of cultural sites and initiatives in language, marae and cultural heritage preservation.
The settlement also includes the return of 64 culturally significant sites, among them Ngā Huinga and Whakapapa Island Scenic Reserve.
Fifteen original Māori place names will be restored and 12 conservation sites will be transferred in fee simple without reserve status.
Key to the settlement are statutory pardons for tūpuna who were wrongfully convicted in 1846.
In the 1840s, the Crown negotiated on behalf of the New Zealand Company with another iwi to purchase land in Heretaunga (the Hutt Valley), where some Ngāti Hāua hapū had settled.
The hapū were ordered to leave under threat of military force. When fighting broke out, the Crown captured and court-martialled Ngāti Hāua tūpuna.
Formal pardons will be granted for Mātene Ruta Te Whareaitu, who was sentenced to death and executed by hanging, and Te Rangiatea who was sentenced to confinement for the rest of his life and died soon afterwards in prison.
Another five tūpuna were exiled to Australia.
These events were a catalyst to further fighting between Ngāti Hāua and the Crown in Whanganui in 1847 and, along with other events, will be formally acknowledged in the settlement.
The Crown will also apologise for the impact of its breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
What happens next
Ratification of the Deed of Settlement ends the negotiations process. Ngāti Hāua and the Crown will sign the Deed of Settlement later this year in Taumarunui.
The settlement will then go through the law-making process.
It will be introduced to Parliament as a bill. The bill will go before the Māori Affairs Select Committee and open for public submissions before going through the second and third readings in Parliament.
When it receives the Royal Assent it will become law (the Settlement Act).
Ngāti Hāua and the Crown will then work together to complete the final steps to set up the post-settlement governance entity (PSGE) Te Whiringa Kākaho o Ngāti Hāua and the trust deed, and facilitate the election of trustees.
The redress package will be transferred to the PSGE, usually 40 working days after the settlement becomes law, and other arrangements set out in the agreement will be implemented.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
