Treaty of Waitangi

The Treaty of Waitangi (Māori: Te Tiriti o Waitangi) was signed on {{event|1840|2|6|region=NZ|category=treatie}} at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. It was signed by representatives of the British Crown, and chiefs from the Northern North Island including the handful of chiefs the British Resident, James Busby had earlier induced to claim independence as the Confederation of the United Tribes of New Zealand.

The signing of the Treaty

The Treaty of Waitangi was first proposed by Captain William Hobson on his return to Britain from his first visit to New Zealand. He received a mandate from the British government to carry out his plan and was given the title of Lieutenant-Governor. He arrived in New Zealand and drafted the Treaty with James Busby, who was the British Resident in New Zealand and had been given the task of greeting Hobson upon his arrival and helping to draft the Treaty. Busby had previously drafted the Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand which had been signed by a small number of Māori chiefs in 1835. Henry Williams, a missionary, translated the text into Māori, and gave an oral explanation at the initial signing. His translation has been the focus of much scrutiny.

Related Topics:
William Hobson - James Busby - Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand - Henry Williams

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Hobson headed the British signatories. Of the 40 or so Māori chiefs, the Ngapuhi rangatira Hone Heke was the first to sign the treaty. To enhance the authority of the treaty eight further copies were made and then sent around the country to gather additional signatures:

Related Topics:
Ngapuhi - Hone Heke

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• the Manukau-Kawhia copy,
• the Waikato-Manukau copy,
• the Tauranga copy,
• the Bay of Plenty copy,
• the Herald-Bunbury copy,
• the Henry Williams copy,
• the East Coast copy and
• the Printed copy.

Around 50 meetings were held from February to September 1840 to discuss and sign the copies, and a further 500 signatures were added to the treaty. Several chiefs, equally, declined to sign. New Zealand was constituted as a colony separate from New South Wales on 16 November 1840.

Related Topics:
New South Wales - 16 November - 1840

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In 1841, the Treaty narrowly escaped destruction when the government offices in Auckland were destroyed by fire. Subsequently, the Treaty documents were fastened together and deposited in a safe in the Colonial Secretary's office in Auckland and later in Wellington, when the Capital was relocated. The documents were left untouched until 1865 when a list of signatories was produced. In 1877 the English language rough draft of the Treaty was published along with photolithographic facsimiles of the Treaty, and the originals were returned to storage. In 1908 Dr Hocken found the Treaty in poor condition, having been eaten by rodents. The document was restored by the Dominion Museum in 1913. In February 1940 the Treaty was taken to Waitangi for display in the Treaty house during the Centenary celebrations - this was possibly the first time the Treaty had been on public display since the signing in 1840. Following the outbreak of war with Japan, the Treaty was with a number of State documents placed in an outsize luggage trunk and deposited for secure custody in the safe with the Public Trustee at Palmerston North by the local MP, who did not tell staff what was in the case. As the case was too large to fit in the safe, the Treaty spent the crisis to the side of a back corridor in the Public Trust office. In 1956 the Department of Internal Affairs placed the Treaty in the care of the Alexander Turnbull Library and it was eventually displayed in 1961. Further preservation steps were taken in 1966, with improvements to the display conditions. During 1977 to 1980, the Alexander Turnbull Library carried out extensive remedial treatment to the documents before the Treaty was deposited in the Reserve Bank. In anticipation of a decision to exhibit the treaty in 1990, the Sesquicentennial of the signing, full documentation and reproduction photography was carried out. Several years' planning culminated with the opening of the Constitution Room at the then National Archives by the Prime Minister in November 1990. The documents are currently on permanent display in the Constitution Room at Archives New Zealand's headquarters in Wellington.

Related Topics:
Public Trustee - Palmerston North - Archives New Zealand

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The anniversary of the signing of the Treaty is now commemorated (although far from celebrated) in New Zealand as a public holiday, Waitangi Day, on 6 February. The first Waitangi Day was not until 1934 and the day was not made a public holiday until 1974. The commemoration has often been the focus of protest by Māori and has frequently attracted controversy. The anniversary is officially commemorated at the Treaty House at Waitangi, where the Treaty was first signed.

Related Topics:
6 February - 1934 - 1974

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