By Tom McRae
There have been overwhelmingly positive reactions to the deal Tuhoe struck with the Crown.
One Tuhoe specialist says it's not the money or land that's most important, but the sense of control over their communities Tuhoe now have.
The people of Ruatoki, which is nestled at the base of the Ureweras, say for them the settlement is a huge accomplishment.
“We always knew it was going to return to us,” says resident Gina Timiti. “It's just a matter of the Pakeha recognising it's ours, and that's awesome.”
“Going through all the fights and all the meetings just to get our land back has finally come to an end,” says resident Hinekura Mika.
With a long and bloody history, in their eyes the Crown had a moral obligation to strike a fair deal.
“There is no other tribe in the country that's had the experiences they've had, starting in 1865 up to 1872,” says Tuhoe specialist Paul Moon. “That seven-year period where you see people forced off their land, effectively ethnic cleansing, houses burnt, people imprisoned and killed, crops destroyed, animals killed, whole populations, thousands of people, shunned into the hinterland – very forbidding territory – and some of them dying of starvation afterwards. So very few other parts of the country have had that history.”
Paul Moon has literally written the book on Tuhoe, and says the Social Services Management Plan, which gives Tuhoe control over housing, education and healthcare in its communities, is particularly important.
“One of the features of Maori communities is they've proven to be very adapt at designing social services that suit their local needs,” says Mr Moon. “They might not work anywhere else in the country but they certainly suit in those areas. So the Crown I think will take advantage of that and say ‘look, you know the people that can make this work best’, rather than have a one-size-fits-all approach.”
Fish and Game say it's been involved throughout the negotiations and the settlement has been carefully crafted.
“They've given us plenty of assurance of access and plenty of assurances of the ongoing management of the fishery by Fish and Game,” says Bryce Johnson of Fish and Game Council.
Tuhoe leaders will now have to sell the deal to their people, and it shouldn’t be too hard to sell.
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