Why maori signed the treaty of waitangi

Ka meatia tenei ki Waitangi i te ono o nga ra o Pepueri i te tau kotahi mano, e waru rau e wa te kau o to tatou Ariki.

Victoria, the Queen of England, in her concern to protect the chiefs and the subtribes of New Zealand and in her desire to preserve their chieftainship and their lands to them and to maintain peace and good order considers it just to appoint an administrator one who will negotiate with the people of New Zealand to the end that their chiefs will agree to the Queen's Government being established over all parts of this land and adjoining islands and also because there are many of her subjects already living on this land and others yet to come.

So the Queen desires to establish a government so that no evil will come to Maori and European living in a state of lawlessness. So the Queen has appointed me, William Hobson, a Captain in the Royal Navy to be Governor for all parts of New Zealand both those shortly to be received by the Queen and those to be received hereafter and presents to the chiefs of the Confederation chiefs of the subtribes of New Zealand and other chiefs these laws set out here.

The Chiefs of the Confederation and all the Chiefs who have not joined that Confederation give absolutely to the Queen of England for ever the complete government over their land.

The Queen of England agrees to protect the chiefs, the subtribes and all the people of New Zealand in the unqualified exercise of their chieftainship over their lands, villages and all their treasures. But on the other hand the Chiefs of the Confederation and all the Chiefs will sell land to the Queen at a price agreed to by the person owning it and by the person buying it the latter being appointed by the Queen as her purchase agent. For this agreed arrangement therefore concerning the Government of the Queen, the Queen of England will protect all the ordinary people of New Zealand and will give them the same rights and duties of citizenship as the people of England.

So we, the Chiefs of the Confederation and of the subtribes of New Zealand meeting here at Waitangi having seen the shape of these words which we accept and agree to record our names and our marks thus. The Chiefs of the Confederation of the United Tribes of New Zealand and the separate and independent Chiefs who have not become members of the Confederation cede to Her Majesty the Queen of England absolutely and without reservation all the rights and powers of Sovereignty which the said Confederation or Individual Chiefs respectively exercise or possess, or may be supposed to exercise or to possess over their respective Territories as the sole sovereigns thereof.

Her Majesty the Queen of England confirms and guarantees to the Chiefs and Tribes of New Zealand and to the respective families and individuals thereof the full exclusive and undisturbed possession of their Lands and Estates Forests Fisheries and other properties which they may collectively or individually possess so long as it is their wish and desire to retain the same in their possession; but the Chiefs of the United Tribes and the individual Chiefs yield to Her Majesty the exclusive right of Preemption over such lands as the proprietors thereof may be disposed to alienate at such prices as may be agreed upon between the respective Proprietors and persons appointed by Her Majesty to treat with them in that behalf.

Now therefore We the Chiefs of the Confederation of the United Tribes of New Zealand being assembled in Congress at Victoria in Waitangi and We the Separate and Independent Chiefs of New Zealand claiming authority over the Tribes and Territories which are specified after our respective names, having been made fully to understand the Provisions of the foregoing Treaty, accept and enter into the same in the full spirit and meaning thereof in witness of which we have attached our signatures or marks at the places and the dates respectively specified.

Done at Waitangi this Sixth day of February in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty. Images of each Treaty sheet are available on our Flickr page. Sheet 1 — The Waitangi Sheet.

Sheet 4 — The Printed Sheet. Sheet 5 — The Tauranga Sheet. Sheet 7 — The Herald Bunbury Sheet. Sheet 9 — The East Coast Sheet. Copies also signed by Hobson were sent to various parts of New Zealand to obtain the signature of other rangatira to extend the sovereignty of the Queen over the whole country.

A printed sheet was also signed. George Eliott, the record clerk, arrived just in time to rescue the Treaty and the Seal of the Colony. The text and translation were published for the Legislative Council, with notes by W. Baker, translator to the Native Office. Notes on the draft of the Treaty appear to have come to light during the next few years. The Department of Internal Affairs took charge of the Treaty, and it was sent to the Director of the Dominion Museum to see if it could be restored.

The Treaty was installed in a showcase built for it in the entrance hall of the library and was unveiled by the Minister of Internal Affairs on 6 February December : The Constitution Room was officially opened on 9 December and the nine sheets of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, along with other founding documents of New Zealand, were put on permanent display for the first time.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi is not one but nine sheets, signed across New Zealand over a period of seven months. In , only a year after the Treaty was drawn up and signed, the documents were saved from a fire at the government offices in Official Bay, Auckland.

Poor storage between and led to the Treaty being damaged by both water and rodents. However, facsimiles of the Treaty had been created in , before the damage occurred, and images of all signatures have survived.

After a series of different conservation treatments and different homes, the Treaty was finally brought to National Archives in The following is a chronology of events about the signings of the sheets, their care, and their display. Publications What's new Contact us Search. He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni.

Skip to main content. Te Papa is open. The settler population was The two populations drew even by the late s. The words used in each have different meanings. Only thirty-nine signed the English version. Most rangatira who signed drew their moko as their signature. In Britain at that time, women did not vote or have any say in important issues. However, three women signed at Waitangi on 6 February. They were rangatira or ariki. Henry Williams knew this. He was one of the people who took the Treaty around the country.

He collected the signatures of women at Kapiti, Wellington and Wanganui. Another person who was collecting signatures around the country refused to allow the daughter of Te Pehi, a famous Ngati Toa rangatira, to sign.

That signature collector thought women were not important enough to sign the Treaty. Te Pehi's daughter was angry and her husband refused to sign, probably because of the insult to his wife. Misunderstandings like this can happen very easily between two different cultures. Few rangatira signed at Waitangi on 6 February but more signed when the Treaty was taken around the north. Several rangatira in the Waikato signed the Treaty, but Potatau Te Wherowhero refused even though he was asked again and again.

He was an important man, and the British knew that if he signed, others would sign too. This was the case for the Arawa and Tuwharetoa tribes in the central North Island. No attempt to get signatures was made in south Taranaki, where a vessel, the Alligator, had sailed along the coast in firing cannons on coastal kainga.

It took four months to collect over signatures. Ingrid L M Huygens is self-employed as a national Treaty educator, and is also national coordinator for the charitable organisastion Tangata Tiriti - Treaty People Incorporated.

The signing of the treaty confirmed formal European settlement in New Zealand. But debate and confusion have continued ever since regarding the exact meaning of the treaty text.

Read more: New Zealand's indigenous reconciliation efforts show having a treaty isn't enough. Under law both are accepted as the Treaty of Waitangi, but they are significantly different in meaning.