Long fight for justice ends as New Zealand treaty recognises Moriori people

Indigenous settlers of the Chatham Islands celebrate significant milestone' as treaty enshrined in law apologises for wrongs and returns land

After more than 150 years of struggle for justice, truth and reparation, the Moriori people of Rkohu, or the Chatham Islands, can turn a new leaf on the history book that rewrote their story and taught generations of New Zealanders they were an inferior race that was now extinct.

Moriori were the first settlers to the archipelago, 800 kilometres east of New Zealand, between 600 and 1,000 years ago and developed a distinct language, customs and culture before they were nearly wiped out.