The Treaty of Waitangi settlement for Moriori has been completed.
The Moriori Claims Settlement Bill passed its third reading at Parliament early this week.
The settlement package includes a Crown apology, the transfer of culturally and spiritually significant lands to Moriori as cultural redress, finance of $18 million, and shared redress such as the vesting of 50 percent of Te Whanga Lagoon.
The Bill will become law in 40 days’ time.
A spokesperson for Moriori said that the return of culturally and spiritually significant lands would allow them to “protect and honour the burial places of our karāpuna”.
Who are the Moriori?
The Moriori are the native Polynesian people of the Chatham Islands.
Moriori originated from Māori settlers from the New Zealand mainland around AD 1500.
Currently, there are around 700 people who identify as Moriori, most of whom no longer live on the Chatham Islands.
4 Responses
OMG
reeeeeeee
My dad went to that meeting and he, my brother and I are all Moriori.
thats so good!!