Ngati Ranginui chairperson Huikakahu Kawe of Tauranga says it is an honour to have had the Maori King present at the initialling of a deed of settlement which covers all the iwi's historical Treaty claims.
The deed initialled by the Crown and the iwi at Huria marae in Tauranga, is for a settlement which includes financial redress of $31 million, plus the return of two conservation areas.
Mr Kawe, says the iwi's link with King Tuheitia's tipuna dates back to 1863, when British forces attacked Maori fortifications in Waikato.
Maori from Tauranga went to support Waikato tribes at the battle of Rangiriri north of Hamilton, where 36 Maori died and more than 180 people were taken prisoner.
Mr Kawe says Ngati Ranginui still has an annual gathering to remember Maori who fought and died in battles in the 1860s at Rangiriri and at Gate Pa near Tauranga.
