New Zealand before the treaty was signed. During the 1830s was a Maori controlled New Zealand, that was known as an independent country but also was a frontier outpost of the British penal colony of New South Wales. As more Europeans came, working alongside with the Maoris their working environment was good but at times violence did occur. The Europeans were starting to plan to buy land for the several hundred settlers that were coming to live in New Zealand.
Treaty of Waitangi also known as New Zealand’s founding document, was a written agreement signed to bring partnership and peace between the two different societies. This was signed by more than 500 Māori chiefs and the British Crown (the monarch). This was taken place on the 6th of February 1840 at Bay of Plenty. After the Treaty of Waitangi was signed New Zealand became a colony of Britain and the Maoris became British subjects. The Treaty was written in two versions, one drafted in English and then translated into Māori by Henry Williams, who was known as a man who successfully influenced several thousand Maoris to convert and he did spread its influence to quite a good section of North Island. Henry Williams and his son Edward were given one night to translate the drafted treaty in English to Māori. It was presented to 500 Māori chiefs at Waitangi on the 5th of February at 1840 there was a lot of debate regarding this treaty. One of the many reasons why the treaty was signed by quite a few of the Maori leaders was because they did want settlement and also support when it comes to controlling the settles and land sales. Some of the reasons why some Maori chiefs did not sign the treaty was because some of the chiefs never had the opportunity to sign it. Some chiefs did not want to sign the treaty, as they wanted their personal affairs and personal disputes to be settled between them not with the Europeans changing it. Also chiefs did value and respect their independence and were not ready to place their mana which means “authority, power, psychic force, prestige” under the British queen. The next day also known as Waitangi day, copies were taken all over the country to different Māori chiefs which a lot of them did end up signing the Māori-language version. Also before Hobson cold collect further signatures for the treaty he fell seriously ill. Other officials such as two army officers and several missionaries were given the responsibility to go and collect the remaining signatures. A lot of copies were made of the treaty for the officials to go around to the regions they couldn’t go to before. More than 500 chiefs including some women ended up signing the treaty. The Maoris and the Europeans had different expectations and understandings of the treaty, later on, in the following days, meetings at Waimate North and Hokianga added further signatures and added some more marks of agreements to the treaty. This did make some the chiefs reconsider their decision of signing the treaty. As the reason why some of the chiefs did sign the treaty was that on the treaty it did include wanting controls on the sales of Māori land to the Europeans, and on European settlers. They believed that a new relationship would occur with Britain and this would cause the fighting to stop between the tribes and also they have also thought about trading with the Europeans. The Māori translate of the treaty was not quite similar to the English version as it did not have the same meaning.
One example was that on the English version it said that “in Māori, it gave Queen Victoria governance over the land, while in English it gave her sovereignty over the land, which is a stronger term.” And one of the Māori version it stated that “the Māori version guaranteed chiefs ‘te tino rangatiratanga’ – chieftainship over their lands, villages and treasured things. It also gave the Crown a right to deal with Māori in buying land. The English version gave chiefs ‘exclusive and undisturbed possession’ of lands, forests, fisheries and other property. It also gave the Crown an exclusive right to deal with Māori over buying land.”
From then a lot of conflicts did arise, not all of Māori chiefs did not sign as some chiefs never got the opportunity to sign it, as it wasn’t taken to some regions. This created conflict as the British government did decide that it placed all the Māori’s under the British authority. When there was a demand for more land more problems did start to occur between the Māori and Europeans. As promised on the treaty “both versions gave Māori the queen’s protection and the rights of British subjects.” The government often ignored the protections that were meant to be provided.
As this carried on many Maoris doubted the government now, as they went keeping their word regarding the treaty. They held many meetings together to talk about the issues they were facing due to the treaty. Started at 1882 till 1924 four groups of Maori travelled to England in order to raise a voice and get their rights back. In 1860 a fight broke out between the Maori and British troops in Taranaki over a disputed land transaction. This was also counted as dishonoring the treaty, Governor Thomas Gore Browne called a conference hoping he would be able to convince the Maori chiefs in supporting his actions in Taranaki. At Kohimarama, Auckland the treaty was presented to over 200 chiefs including some who had signed it trying to explain the agreement. The chiefs did figure out that they had different understandings of the treaty, as they were presented the Maori version which was different compared to the English draft as mentioned before supported with quotes. The war in Waikato broke out and this conflict was officially described as the Maoris rebellion against the government and not agreeing with the treaty. By 1870s the treaty of Waitangi started not to matter as the agreements weren’t being followed as promised. Hundreds of thousands of settlers came to New Zealand. The European population grew to leave the Maori population outnumbered. This was also a concern for the Maoris as they knew they were not receiving the proper protection they were promised. Everything started changing completely causing more concerns for the Maoris. The Maoris did response back to this, they looked closely at the promises that were made in the treaty and tried their best to come up with solutions to the problems related to the problems arising from land loss and settlement. Maori parliaments were set up to assert the treaty rights that they were promised and they deserved. The supporters of the Maori parliament hoped that a Maori voice will be heard soon and will support the Maori MP and also to be heard by the politicians at the parliament in Wellington.
During the first few decades of the 20th century, the relationships between the Maori and the government began to improve. This gave the Maoris some hope that now the government would finally understand their problems and give them respect for their treaty rights. The government did acknowledge the claims to traditional rights over the lakes in the Rotorua region and agreed to pay for the loss of fishing and rights in the lake. After witnessing all this gave the Maoris more hope about the other treaty rights they were promised. The Ratana Church entered politics in 1929 with an aim of restoring and securing the treaty rights. They did form an alliance with the Labour party and the candidates did win all four seats in the 1943 general election which was a massive step for them for securing their treaty rights. It came to public attention that the treaty of Waitangi was acknowledged by the European New Zealanders but they ignored it in the early 20th century. The house where the treaty of Waitangi was signed marked this gift as it also represented the 100th anniversary of the selection of the United Tribes flag by a few of the northern Maori chiefs as the flag of an independent New Zealand.
After this, 6th of February became a public holiday for us to celebrate. Protests increased throughout the country as it was revealed that this was still relating to the respect for the treaty as there was a different understanding between the Maoris and the non-Maoris plus the government. Waitangi day protects grew larger to a point that they reached live television news broadcasts. The Treaty in a daily life was accepted by many New Zealanders, who understood that it was a challenge to secure the treaty’s original aim and giving the Maoris the respect they deserved. Now it is part of history that we look back to and make sure we will always have an understanding of two different communities united as one under the treaty has given respect, celebrated as a country on the 6th of February as a public holiday every year.
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1. http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/category/tid/133
2. http://archives.govt.nz/exhibitions/treaty
3. https://teara.govt.nz/en/treaty-of-waitangi/sources
4. https://nzhistory.govt.nz/people/henry-williams
Perspectives of people with different point of views during the Treaty of Waitangi:
First perspective: Henry Williams
Second perspective: Keith Sinclair
Third perspective: Hone Heke
Henry Williams:
Henry Williams was a major influencer during the Treaty of Waitangi. He is still a significant figure that many historians discuss about and now debate about what did his actions do back then, as according to a lot of people he was the reason why there was confusion created between the Europeans and the Maori chiefs/locals that occurred a while after the treaty was signed. He knew the Maori language really well and enjoyed discovering more about it. He did play a significant role during the event as he had a huge responsibility of changing the original treaty which was written in English to Maori so the Maori chiefs could approve and there would be a settlement between the Europeans and Maoris. He personally thought the Maori’s signing the treaty would be a really good idea as this would be really beneficial for the Maori’s as well.
Background research about Henry Williams: Henry Williams who was born on the 11th of February 1792 Gosport, England. He had nine siblings altogether, he was the fifth child and third son of Thomas Williams. He belonged to a well off family as his parents were lace manufacturers. He was baptized on the 13th of April also at Gosport, Hampshire, England. William was only 11 years old when his father Thomas Williams had passed away due to typhus at the age of 50, a while after he had lost his mother as well in 1804. He was left with huge responsibility of looking after his siblings and himself all alone at the age of 14. At the age of 14, Henry wanted to be an officer so he joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman. His journey to New Zealand began when he was offered to be a part of the Christian Missionary Society (CMS). This is when he first became a lay settler but then became a missionary candidate and entered New Zealand on the 3rd of August 1832. He arrived at Bay of Islands with his wife and three kids. Later on his brother William Williams also arrived at 1826. CMS was already a part of New Zealand for the past 10 years but the only downside was that none of the Maoris had decided to convert to Christianity. Maori culture and their traditions is a huge aspect of any Maori’s life which they couldn’t just give up that easily. Williams was a determined and hardworking missionary who believed and was confident about whatever he wanted to achieve. There was lack of leadership being provided by John Butler and Thomas Kendall as they had personal revelry. It was believed that a lot of missionaries that were in New Zealand were heavily dependent on the Maori locals/chiefs for the supplies and food. Williams took a step as he wanted to “civilize” the Maoris. Williams started getting other mission team members to learn the local language and this did interest the team members to put in effort to learn the Maori language properly. From Williams perspective, this was considered a good idea because this would improve the communication between the Europeans and the Maoris. They would have a better understanding of how each side is feeling also seeing that the mission team members are putting in effort this would show the Maoris that they are genuinely interested in being in good terms. After seeing all the hard work, Williams success was celebrated around the 1830s. Slowly Williams began to win the trust of the Maoris and there was an increasing amount of Maoris who did get baptized. CMS was finally having a positive impact on the Maoris as they started to finally make an impact which they couldn’t in the past 10 years. William did create a positive environment where everyone felt comfortable with, he was celebrated for all his hard efforts and success during this process.
His role during the event: Henry Williams had a very important role, William and his son Edward were given an important task that they had to complete, which was to translate the Treaty to the best of their ability. They had a lot of pressure put on them as translating the Maori language to English making sure everything is accurate was a hard task as both sides had to have a similar treaty where they can both agree on decisions regarding their future. Some problems that did occur for him throughout this challenge was that he did not have enough time to translate the treaty for the Maori chiefs the next day, he was given the task to complete on the 4th of February 1840 and needed it to be fully prepared the next day which was the 5th of February 1840. This was quite a hard task as the Maori language wasn’t Williams first taught language and he taught the Maori language with the help of the locals and chiefs. He tried his best to make the treaty as accurate as the original version which was written in English. During this process he did make the mistake of not consulting a Maori chief or local on the wording as he had used Maori words they made it sound really well written also implying that they are also agreeing on their rules, so for the Maori chiefs the treaty was written out really nicely for the Maori’s so it sounded really approvable to them agree with the Europeans. Williams should have had a Maori local or chief there with him and Edward to help them out to make sure the treaty would have been as accurate as the original copy so the Maoris would have understood and agreed on the same terms as the Europeans. He had to face a lot of criticism regrading this issue as people considered him to be the reason why all the conflict had occurred.
Henry Williams perspective: William was a respected man, but due to his translating error which occurred when he didn’t translate the treaty properly as the explanation wasn’t clear enough and did have two different meaning for both the treaty’s. Due to this after 1840 he was later on accused by Maoris for the misunderstanding. While researching about how William truly feel about the treaty it was believed that William did not support the treaty of Waitangi document as according to him “It was a confusing document that the Maoris could not understand.” This is said because when William first arrived to the Bay of Islands he had goals he wanted to achieve and with this, others could tell he genuinely did want to learn the Maori language and helped others learn it as well. During 1830-1840s he did gain a lot of power (mana in Maori) he gained the trust of them which did also lead for a large amount of Maoris to convert into Christianity as well. Historian Robin Fishers had supported this as in his written biography he mentioned “