New Zealand’s founding document is the Treaty of Waitangi. In 1840 in front of James Busby, the British Resident’s house, Māori tribal leaders gathered with assorted missionaries, mariners, and military to sign the Waitangi Treaty. Captain William Hobson represented the British Crown and he brought with him a treaty that would permit British settlement on New Zealand and set out the conditions for settlers and Māori. The Tribal chiefs debated the treaty overnight and on February 6 forty of them signed. The treaty was toured around New Zealand and by September more than four hundred leaders had signed.
Busby humbly said,
It is my wish that when I have erected my house all the chiefs shall visit me and be my friends. And we shall consult together by what means they make their country flourishing and their people rich and wise, like the people of Great Britain.
The treaty set the stage for British Colonialism. Of course there were problems. The English treaty, and the Māori translation did not agree on key points and that made for difficulties along the way. The Māori version gave the crown rights over the land, the English version sovereignty over the land. And from that distinction disagreements grew. The treaty was drawn up in English and translated quickly by missionaries. Whether the differences were intentional or the result of a good faith translation attempt are still debated. For instance, there is no word in Māori for “sovereignty” so was the difference a mistake in translation? Certainly, there was a difference in understanding that led to rebellions and wars between Māori and the British in the 19th century.
Post World War II Māori leaders, educated in Western law, lobbied for an interpretation of the treaty closer to their understanding. In 1975 New Zealand created a Treaty Tribunal that led to significant financial and land settlements. In 1995 Queen Elizabeth signed the Waikato Raupatu Claims Settlement Act that provided reparations for land confiscated in the 1860’s and an unprecedented apology by the Crown to Māori people.
The Waitangi treaty site is considered almost sacred ground. Besides that, the grounds are beautiful.
Aside from the Busby house there are two museums, what the park calls the world’s longest war canoe,
and a Māori non-tribal meeting house Te Whare Rūnanga, built in 1940 representing the partnership between the Māori people and the Births Crown, this is particularly significant since it was opened during World War II when many Māori were serving in the British Armed Forces in North Africa. We watched a cultural performance at the house.
We have visited here before. To see the posts please click here and here.
