UK expresses 'regret' over Māori killings after Cook's arrival in New Zealand
The British government has expressed regret for the killing of Māori people in New Zealand after the explorer Captain James Cook’s arrival in the country in 1769.
But the statement from the British high commissioner to New Zealand, Laura Clarke, to local tribes – known as iwi – was made in private and stopped short of an apology.
The meetings with iwi in the city of Gisborne, on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island, came days before a government-funded commemoration of Cook’s landing there, including a replica of his sailing ship along with a flotilla of other vessels.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/02/britain-expresses-regret-over-maori-killings-after-captain-cooks-arrival-in-new-zealand