Waikato-Tainui Anniversary Booklet

*‘The Waikato-Tainui claim’, URL:

the-treaty-in-practice/waikato-tainui, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage)

Until that date the iwi had battled for 132 years for the

wrongs of the colonial New Zealand Government to be

acknowledged and addressed.

The land wars of the 1860s and the land confiscations

that followed had a profound effect on our people

and tribal fortunes, resulting in hundreds of deaths,

the raupatu of 1.2 million acres (12,000 km²) including

Waikato river, the labelling of Waikato as ‘rebels’, and

widespread economic and social deprivation.

At the time of the settlement in 1995 New Zealand’s

Parliament heard how the invasion of the Waikato in

1863 was:

Wrongful and totally unjustified ... the confiscations

were unjust, and ... Waikato-Tainui, far from being in

rebellion, were in fact defending hearth and home ...

The Waikato war and the confiscations that followed

caused devastation ... The people were dispersed,

and there was widespread suffering, distress and

deprivation ... The land of their ancestors had been

taken from them with the stroke of a pen.*

We remember those tuupuna who fought and died

protecting the mana, whenua and awa of Waikato-

Tainui, and acknowledge those who later continued

the fight through legal recourse and dogged

political negotiation, and those who kept the home

fires burning and the resolution strong. And we

acknowledge the Crown for its determination to see

settlement achieved.

This booklet has been published to commemorate 20

years of post-settlement social, cultural, environmental

and economic self-determination, progress and

development. It bears witness to the burgeoning of

Waikato-Tainui.

cOMMEMORATING 20 YEARS

OF RAUPATU SETTLEMENT

The signing of the Deed of Settlement at Tuurangawaewae Marae on

22 May 1995 was a monumental moment in the history of Waikato-Tainui.

Kia niwha, kia uu, kia ita!

WAIKATO-TAINUI

ANNIVERSARY BOOKLET