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THE TREATY OF WAITANGI

7 August 1840

When his Excellency had finished, he invited the chiefs to ask explanations on any point they did not comprehend; 20 or 30 chiefs in consequence addressed the meeting, five or six of whom spoke with so much violence and effect that his Excellency was apprehensive that they had fairly turned the tables on him, but at the crisis the Hokianga chiefs, “under Neni and Potawoni, made their appearance,” and nothing, says Captain Hobson, “could have been more reasonable.” His Excellency insinuates that underhand influence had been at work, and two chiefs whom he names as being followers of the Catholic bishop, were the principal opposers. One of these orators, “Rovewah” said, “Send the men away: do not sign that paper: if you do, you will be reduced to the condition of slaves, and be obliged to break stones for the roads. Your lands will be taken from you, and your dignity as chiefs destroyed.” In this dilemma, and when things appeared to be looking very black for his Excellency, at the first pause “Neni” came forward and eclipsed all rivals. He spoke with so much “natural eloquence” as surprised all the Europeans and turned aside the temporary feeling that had been created by the arguments of the other orators. No wonder, then, that Captain Hobson should speak favourably of his talents. He was to him a friend in need, and seems to have done his part of the business effectually. He pointed out to the New Zealanders how impossible it was for them to govern themselves, and concluded his harangue by strenuously advising the chiefs to place confidence in the promises of the British. He was followed by two other favourable chiefs, and after an adjournment of one day, it having been announced that the chiefs had become impatient to sign the treaty that they might return to their homes, his Excellency gratified their wishes; and having accordingly proceeded to the tents, the treaty was signed in due form by 46 head chiefs, in presence of at least 500 of inferior degree; which, being held to be a full and clear recognition of the sovereign rights of Her Majesty over the northern parts of the island, was announced on the 7^th of February last by a salute of 21 guns from Her Majesty’s ship Herald. By the first article of the treaty, the chiefs of the confederation of the united tribes of New Zealand, and the separate and independent chiefs expressly gave the powers and rights of sovereignty to Her Majesty over their respective territories; and by the second, Her Majesty confirms and guarantees them in the possession of their lands and estates, forests, fisheries, and other properties, so long as they wish to retain the same; but they yield at the same time to Her Majesty the exclusive right of pre-emption over such lands as they may be disposed to alienate; and the third grants to the natives of New Zealand all the rights and privileges of British subjects.

New Zealand had been discovered by Europeans in the seventeenth century, and claimed by James Cook for Britain in 1769, but by the 1830s it was still not a colony subject to the Crown. Instead, it was viewed as an outpost of the settlement in Australia and visited chiefly by whalers and sealers.

Prompted by reports of land speculation and independent projects to develop the country, the British government sent a naval officer, William Hobson, as lieutenant-governor to New Zealand to establish sovereignty. He invited about 500 chiefs of the Maori people to a meeting at Waitangi, in the North Island, on 5 February 1840 (news of it took six months to reach the London papers) and read out the agreement he had prepared.

The Maori wanted to negotiate a treaty to protect themselves from the French, who had colonial ambitions of their own, and to reduce fighting between their tribes. However, the precise meaning of its terms in English and Maori differed, with the latter willing to accept British rule but not to relinquish sovereignty. These conflicting interpretations would lead to a series of wars in the decades that followed.