1997, Tipene O'Regan: Treaty man

Sir Tipene O'Regan led the Ngai Tahu treaty negotiations. (Mark Mitchell, NZ Herald Archive)

Ngai Tahu signed a deed with the Crown to settle its grievances over Treaty breaches in November.

The settlement amounted to $170 million and was the third of the great Treaty settlements of the 1990s after the Sealord deal ($170 million in 1992) and Tainui-Waikato ($170 million in 1995).

Ngai Tahu's lead negotiator Tipene O'Regan - who also played a key role in the Sealord deal - is New Zealander of the Year for his role in bringing about the settlement.

In 1996 the Herald had been critical of both the Government and O'Regan for the secrecy of the talks which, it said, denied the people a meaningful role in the process.

But, at the same time, it recognised there were many reasons for attempting to provide some redress with money land and power to the descendants of the aggrieved. Not least of these were "the honesty and vibrancy of the nation's future".

Ngai Tahu chief negotiator Sir Tipene O'Regan accepts the Waitangi Tribunal settlement offer of $170million from minister for treaty negotiations Doug Graham in Wellington. File photo / Mark Mitchell

But the Treaty cannot live unless it is honoured and so, with hindsight, Tipene O'Regan is our New Zealander of the Year for his significant role in making it happen.

Further reading:
'The Settlement: Claim History', Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu

'The Ngai Tahu settlement', Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand

'A long history of struggle: the Ngai Tahu claim', New Zealand History Online