It's been a long journey for them to reach a point where they are today, and it was poignantly said by Keith Ikin, who's been leading some of the negotiations for Ngāti Maniapoto, "No settlement will ever compensate for the mamae we have endured for many generations. We reflect on the courage and sacrifice of our tūpuna and the generations of our people who have gone before us. We held fast to our mana whakahaere and achieving a relationship with the Crown that reflected the expectations our forebears set out in their signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, within Te Ōhākī Tapu and within the Kawenata of 1903. Today"—this is the day of the signing of the deed of settlement—"we hold fast to the expectations our elders have set. The way forward is a new relationship with the Crown that is real partnership and respects the rangatiratanga of whānau, hapū and marae within Te Nehenehenui."