Story highlights The water body is country's longest navigable river

Settlement includes $80 million in financial restitution to local Maori people

(CNN) In what's believed to be a first-of-its-kind move, the Whanganui River in New Zealand has been granted the same status as a person.

The river will have its own legal identity "with all the corresponding right, duties and liabilities of a legal person," the government said.

This is good news for the local Maori people who've tried for a century to have their relationship with the water body acknowledged by the government. The indigenous Whanganui Iwi have a saying: "I am the river and the river is me."

Two people to speak for the river

Under the Whanganui River Claims Settlement Bill, two people will act and speak on behalf of the river. They'll work to promote and protect its health and well-being. The government and the iwi will pick the two.

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