The New Zealand government has just signed over 435,000 acres of land to a group of seven Maori tribes, which will help their culture survive for generations to come.
As hundreds of members of the native Maori tribes crowded around New Zealand’s parliament house last week, it was an occasion for celebration.
“t’s a historic journey we are on,” Prime Minister Helen Clark said. “We came into politics to address injustice and seek reconciliation. Thank you for walking that road with us on this historic day,”
It was, indeed, a day to remember: The New Zealand government had agreed to sign over 435,000 acres of woodland to seven Maori tribes, who would be responsible for managing the land however they saw fit. The settlement was intended as compensation for the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, in which the Maoris’ land had been unlawfully seized by British colonists.
Now that the land has finally returned to the hands of its rightful owners, the 100,000 members of the seven Maori tribes will have ample opportunity to benefit from it. Much of the land has been turned into pine plantations, which generate around $13 million NZ each year.
Most importantly, the land will help create “a strong, durable and sustainable economic future” for the younger people of the Maori tribes, Maori paramount chief Dr. Tumu te Heu Heu told the Associated Press. “This is our legacy to them.”