New Zealand’s prime minister has apologised for suggesting a Maori tribe might “have him for dinner” following a dispute that had its roots in an 1840 treaty between Britain and Maori chiefs.
John Key’s remark – which he described as “a light-hearted joke” – further soured relations with the Tuhoe iwi, or tribe.
Key had disappointed members of the tribe earlier in the week when he said they would not be given a national park as a part settlement under the Treaty of Waitangi, the pact that was meant to protect Maori lands while ceding sovereignty of New Zealand to Britain.
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