New Zealand to get new commemorative day to mark Land Wars

New Zealand will get a new commemorative day to mark the New Zealand Land Wars.

Iwi representatives and ministers of the Crown have been working on plans to see the 152-year-old battles between British forces and Maori formally acknowledged.

Speaking at Turangawaewae Marae, Deputy Prime Minister Bill English said the Land Wars had been a neglected part of history and it was time to formally recognise the country's bloody past.

"That is why, with Te Ururoa [Flavell], the Government has been able to get the resource together so that we can find a date, a time for a commemoration day," he said.

The announcement came as the historic site of one of the largest battles of the New Zealand Wars, Rangiriri Pa and Te Wheoro Redoubt, were returned to iwi ownership today.

Conservation Minister Maggie Barry handed over the deed to Maori King Tuheitia during a ceremony, which was part of Kiingi Tuheitia's 10th anniversary celebrations.

"Both the pa and redoubt are sites of immense significance for Waikato-Tainui and our shared history as New Zealanders," Ms Barry said.

"This vesting gives us an opportunity to raise awareness of the New Zealand Wars and early conflicts between the Crown and Maori which marked the formation of our nation."

She said the Waikato War was a "desperate struggle marked by bravery, sacrifice and acts of valour as well as bloody reprisals, confusion and horrific suffering".

Barry said a day of commemoration for the New Zealand Land Wars is long overdue, saying it was "important to us as a nation".

"We are engaged in this process and we will find a day that will suit every one."

King Tuheitia's spokesman, Tuku Morgan, agreed, saying that "our children should know just as much as of our history as ANZAC Cove as Crete and English history as much as they should know about Pukahinahina, Te Tarata, Gate Pa Rangiriri and Orakau."