They said they were pleased the Otago Daily Times acknowledged the racism of the cartoon - but ODT editor Barry Stewart said he stopped short of that.
Mr Stewart and the paper's chief executive Grant McKenzie met on Thursday morning with members of Dunedin's Samoan community to start the healing process after the hurt caused by Garrick Tremain's piece.
Members said the acknowledgement of racism by the paper allowed them to start moving forward with ifoga, forgiveness and healing.
