Tribunal report on Te Rohe Pōtae 'a huge thing for our people'

A Maniapoto leader says a Waitangi Tribunal report has opened up the conversation about what happened to his ancestors and his people in King Country.

The first report into the large Te Rohe Pōtae district inquiry was presented at an event in Wellington on Tuesday. It says the Crown was dishonest to Māori in the King Country and pursued an aggressive land grab that caused, and is still causing, them damage.

From 1890 to 1905 - more than 250,000 hectares of land, or a third of the district, left Māori ownership. The deputy chair of the Maniapoto Māori Trust Board, Keith Ikin, says his ancestors had allowed some land to be used for the main trunk line but much, much more land was taken.