Waitangi Treaty lost and found.
People usually know about the Waitangi treaty as
being a founding document that was signed by many of New Zealand’s Maori throughout
the country. There is more to the story and there were other documents that had
been written before including letters to the British King at the time. There
was more involved at the time with the creation of the treaty and what had
occurred to it after being signed. The Treaty itself still raises many issues
within New Zealand and has resulted in many settlements over land disputes
along with the wording of the treaty itself as it was written in both English
and Maori. The journey of the actual treaty is an interesting story to follow
though there area few events that occurred during the time afterwards.
Before the Waitangi Treaty in 1840, there was
another document that had been created in 1835 called the Declaration of Independence
of New Zealand. This was mainly towards the Northern Tribes in the Bay of
Islands area, which was drawn up by James Busby. It was after around 13 tribes
had sent off a letter to King William IV in 1931 asking to be protected from
other powers. There is debate over the role of the treaty being the first step
towards the signing of the Waitangi Treaty in 1840. 34 tribal chiefs had signed
the declaration in 1935 and by the end of 1839 there had been an additional 18
chiefs. New Zealand wasn’t devoid of Europeans as there were missionaries in
the country working with the Maori and traders arriving in the Bay of Islands before
the arrival of James Busby.
The English version of the treaty was put together
over a few days by James Busby with notes from William Hobson. The wording of
the treaty was based on instruction from Lord Normanby the Colonial secretary
in London. The treaty was then translated into Maori overnight by Henry
Williams the leader of the Church Missionary Society. The treaty was read out
in both English and Maori to the group who were in front of Busby’s house in
Waitangi, which is why it is called the Waitangi Treaty. The people had gathered
on the 5th of February. The
people who were present at the time were hundreds of Maori, Officials of
William Hobson along with English and French missionaries. Others who were
present were residents of Waitangi who could not have a say about the treaty no
could they sign it as the treaty was more of Maori concern with their
relationship with the British Crown. The Maori debated the treaty as was their
custom to give the positives and negatives well into the night. It was not until
the next day on the 6th that the Maori present were ready to sign.
45 of the Maori signed with either signatures of the moko facial patterns.
Hobson’s people and Hobson himself were summoned and was in civilian clothing, which
is different to paintings and other media showing William Hobson in full
military uniform. The first Maori to sign was Hone Heke Poki and to Hobson the
surprise was the people who spoke against the treaty also signed it.
Copies of the treaty were made and sent to other
parts of New Zealand to be signed in 1840 with the help of missionaries and
traders. This occurred between February and September. In October of 1840 one
copy of the treaty had been sent to the Colonial office in London. A number of
women had also signed the treaty though they were of higher status in society
There has been many issues relating in New Zealand
due to the treaty and many events have occurred since then. One of which was
the beginnings of the Northern Wars also known as the New Zealand Wars that
began in 1845 when Hone Heke cut the flag pole down at least four times in Kororareka
otherwise known as Russell today. I wont
go into the complex details of the ramifications of the actual treaty as there
were many that changed the country especially since I am following the path of
the document.
The treaty itself was nearly destroyed by fire in
government buildings in 1841 where it was rescued by the clerk at the time. In
1865 the documents were sent to Wellington when the city became the capital of
New Zealand. The documents then vanished again only to be found in the basement
of government building in Wellington and had been damaged where rats, water and
time had been involved in 1908. An attempt to restore the documents resulted in
some more damaged and they were placed into storage in a vault within the
Department of Internal affairs. In 1957 the archives act was passed and the
treaty became property of the National Archives as it was now considered to be
an official archival subject. Some more restoration began in 1966 and around
1977.
The document has been on display on and off
especially when it was put on display in 1940 for its 100th year
anniversary. The treaty went under display again in 1961 within the Alexander
Turnbull Library before being returned to the care of the National archives in
1978 where new facilities were being built for the safe storage of the
documents to be put on display. The treaty was placed within a secure vault in
the Reserve Bank of New Zealand before being placed into its new location in
1991 at the National Archives newly built Constitution room that had been
officially opened on the 9th
of December. There is a display in the Te Papa museum in Wellington about the
treaty and where it went to be signed. It also explains the differences between
the English language and the Maori language of the two documents.
Since the creation of the treaty at Waitangi in 1840
the document itself has had a journey and so has the country of New Zealand.
There has been conflicts with the people in the country especially in regards
to the land that was taken from them though some of it was sold by other Maori
who were enemies to the tribes in question. There were creations of movements
within the country including that of the Kingi movement. In 1975 there was a
tribunal established under the Waitangi
Treaty Act of 1975 that was meant to look into the breaches of the Treaty.
Sources and further reading:
King, Michael The Penguin History of New Zealand, Penguin Books, Auckland, 2012.
McLauchlan, Gordon A short history of New
Zealand, David Bateman, Auckland, 2014.
Reed, A.H. The
Story of Northland, A.H. & A.W. Reed, Wellington, 1975.
Women signatories to the treaty of Waitangi
Drafting the Treaty
Treaty of Waitangi
Declaration of Independence
Treaty Events
Preserving the documents
Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975
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