The Crown and the South Waikato iwi (tribe) Ngati Raukawa are signing a deed of settlement of the iwi's Treaty of Waitangi claim today.
Treaty Negotiations minister Chris Finlayson and Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples are among those attending a day of events at Aotearoa Marae, about 40 kilometres southeast of Te Awamutu.
The deal includes financial redress of about $63 million, $28m of which was already promised as part of the central North Island forestry settlement.
The other $35m includes $8m to support the strengthening of commercial relations with Mighty River Power to account for the significance to Ngati Raukawa of the upper Waikato River.
Another $3m goes towards a cultural fund, $1.8m comes from interest, and about $22m recognises various other grievances.
The deed is being signed after the majority of Ngati Raukawa's disputes on overlapping land claims with neighbouring iwi were resolved.
The majority of the settlement outlined in an initial deed of settlement in September last year was still in place, a spokesman for Mr Finlayson said.
The Crown apologised for its actions during the Waikato Wars of the 1860s, the most famous battle of which, at Orakau, east of Te Awamutu, took place within the Ngati Raukawa area.
The 1864 battle at Orakau saw Maori warriors led by Rewi Maniapoto defeated by British troops, though the loss of 80 people didn't end resistance after many Maori broke their way through the British line to escape.
Some Raukawa land was confiscated after the war, and a variety of other measures saw Raukawa become virtually landless by the middle of the twentieth century, the apology acknowledged.
Ngati Raukawa was also upset that the Crown gifted 20,000 acres of land in the Pouakani block, near Mangakino, to Ngati Kahungunu, the iwi from Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa, though it had no historical links to the area.
NZN