Te Tiriti o Waitangi and He Whakapūtanga o Te Rangatiratanga o Nū Tirene

Overview

Also known as the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand (1835).
First legal document recognizing Aotearoa as a sovereign nation ruled by Māori.
Drafted by 34 rangatira and a British representative, signed by the Confederation of United Tribes (Te Whakamininga).
Asserted Māori sovereignty and denied foreign law-making authority.
Intended to strengthen Māori alliance with Great Britain and assert sovereignty.
Acknowledged by the British King, but overridden by the Treaty five years later.

By 1840, 2,000 British, with a growing number of whalers and sailors, lived in Aotearoa.
Māori outnumbered British settlers 40 to 1.
Issues of lawlessness, especially in Kororāreka, led Māori to request the Queen control her subjects.
Crown responded with the Treaty of Waitangi.

Signed on February 6, 1840.
Two versions: Māori and English.
Nine copies distributed, one in English; over 500 chiefs signed the Māori version, 39 the English.
English Version Articles:
1. Māori cede sovereignty to Britain.
2. Crown's exclusive right to buy lands; guaranteed full rights of ownership for Māori.
3. Māori receive rights and privileges of British subjects.
Māori Version Differences:
- Article 1: 'Sovereignty' translated as 'kāwanatanga' (governance).
- Article 2: 'Possession' translated as 'tino rangatiratanga' (full authority).

Māori chiefs understood governance as control over their own people, not ceding sovereignty.
Differences between tangible and intangible possessions (taonga).
Treaty's promises largely ignored by the Crown over the next century.