Whakatōhea is an Eastern Bay of Plenty iwi, centred in Ōpōtiki (pictured is Waiotahe beach). Photo: 123RF / Julie Schleifer
Members of Whakatōhea are being encouraged to vote on whether to accept a $100 million settlement with the Crown, which would bring an end to nearly 30 years of negotiation.
The settlement for the Eastern Bay of Plenty iwi, centred on Ōpōtiki, has been one of the longest-running and most contentious.
The Crown has offered $100m, 500 hectares of marine space, and the return of 6000ha of land, as well as cultural and commercial redress.
Te Whakatōhea Pre-Settlement Claims Trust chair Graeme Riesterer said a light was starting to appear at the end of the tunnel.
"It's been a long tunnel," Riesterer told RNZ. "It's been 25 long years to get to this stage, where we are now able to take the claim that we have negotiated with the Crown back to the people to say ask them to say yes or no.
"The feeling that we are receiving from our people is that this is an offer that we need to say yes to."
Whakatōhea has suffered extensive loss at the hands of the Crown, in what the Waitangi Tribunal last year described as "among the worst Treaty breaches in this country's history".
The most severe was the invasion and ransacking which followed the killing of missionary Carl Völkner in 1865, which the Crown held Whakatōhea responsible for - an allegation that turned out to be false.
The government declared martial law across the Eastern Bay of Plenty, a decision which the attorney general at the time described as having "no place in the constitution of this country".
But that did not deter the Crown from declaring Whakatōhea rebels and sending in an invasion force of hundreds to embark on a scorched earth policy of killing, looting and ransacking. Crops were destroyed, taonga taken, and homes and marae burned. Whakatōhea dead were buried in mass graves.
A year later, the government confiscated 144,000ha across the Ōpōtiki district, forcing hapū onto poorly-resourced reserves and fuelling intra-iwi conflict.
Today, near one of the sites of killing at Te Tarata, a memorial stone erected by Whakatōhea stands humbly beneath the harakeke.
"In memory of the forty five Ngāti Ira and others who were tragically slaughtered, by cannon, the blade of the sword, and the only cavalry charge in Aotearoa, under the directly punitive scorched earth policy of the Crown, during its Ruapatu and Confiscation," it reads.
A settlement proposed by the Crown in the 1990s was rejected by Whakatōhea, who had significant concerns about whether it was sufficient. That deed was terminated in 1998.
The process then languished for a decade after, with the Waitangi Tribunal writing that the process left a legacy of division among hapū, before starting again in the late 2000s.
Riesterer said the settlement process was often bruising for many iwi and hapū, exacting a significant toll as they tried to go toe-to-toe with the Crown. But the Whakatōhea process has been particularly fraught.
The Trust has struck opposition since talks resumed, with some hapū disputing its mandate and taking claims to the Waitangi Tribunal and Treaty Settlements Minister Andrew Little.
In recent months, one hapū, Te Ūpokorehe, started a petition seeking to leave the mandate, objecting to being included in the wider Whakatōhea settlement.
But in a vote earlier this month, this was overruled by 62 percent of Whakatōhea. Although, a majority of Te Ūpokorehe hapū voted against.
"We've had a few hitches on the way," Riesterer said. "You reflect on all those people who have passed, who have been urging our iwi to come together, to unite, and reach a settlement.
"We are an iwi where nine-tenths of our people have been forced to live away from our area."
Now, Reisterer and the Whakatōhea Pre-Settlement Claims Trust are calling for people to register to vote on the whole settlement, which he hopes to have signed by Christmas.
A six-week voting period will open on 15 October, after which Riesterer hopes to have a clear result to take to the Crown.
In addition to the $100m, 500ha of marine space, and return of 6000ha of land, the Crown has also offered several rights of first refusal in the Ōpōtiki area, as well as a range of cultural redress.
Significantly, the Crown would come to Ōpōtiki to apologise, Riesterer said.
"I would hope that we would be able to sign the Deed of Settlement before Christmas of this year. That would mean that all of Whakatōhea would be able to have a good Christmas present.
"The opportunity that will be given by settlement may enable many of our people to come home to a future."