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A Review of Te Tiriti o Waitangi & The Treaty of Waitangi

Introduction:

Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Treaty of Waitangi are documents that have had a

colourful history. They are documents that conjure up controversial memories and

cause the blood to rush into the hearts and minds of many people.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the document that is argued about today in the Courts of

Pkeh law. It is this document that Mori turn to when any problems arise through

the variations of translation that come about when two languages are involved.

The Treaty of Waitangi is the tool of the Pkeh. It is the document that is popularly

described as the founding document of New Zealand. It is also the document that

most Pkeh commentators quote from when any issues concerning Mori arise.

This paper will look at these two documents, providing a bit of background on the

circumstances surrounding their creation, before turning to the words that are

contained within these two documents.

The scholarship of the writer/s will be mentioned in a small way before providing an

analysis of the content within these documents.

It is the intention of the writer to provide, for future readers, an opinion on what these

documents contain and how they impact on Mori Society and New Zealand Society

as a whole.

Te Timatatanga: Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Prior to the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, a document was created called TeWhakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni. This document created anindependent nation within certain boundaries of the North Island of New Zealand. A

group of chiefs called Te Wakaminenga o Ng hap o Nu Tireni were the instigatorsof this document and played a major role in the initiation of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and

The Treaty of Waitangi.

This document, Te Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni, was the reason

that the Treaty of Waitangi was required. Due to the recognition of this declaration, a

device was needed to remove the sovereignty acknowledged therein, that device was

Te Tiriti o Waitangi/ The Treaty of Waitangi

Background:

The British Empire was spreading its wings into the far-flung corners of the Earth.

The tentacles of colonisation had reached out and enveloped the lesser countries of

the world, and eyes turned towards Aotearoa.

Settlers had come to this country under the illusion that there was land to spare for all

men, and that Aotearoa was the new land of milk and honey. The tangata whenua

had other ideas though, and fought to ensure that these newcomers did not cross the

line when it came to tikanga a rohe.

Due to the troubles that brewed in a little town called Kororareka, it was decided thatLaw and Order needed to come to this land, to deal with what has been described as

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the scourge of the Pacific, the whalers, sealers and other undesirables whom lived

under their own rules. Petitions were written to the Great Leader of these people,

King George IV, asking that he deal with these people. His reply was the sending of a

British Resident aptly known as he manawa pu koreior a Man o war without guns,James Busby. It was to him the tangata whenua turned to in times of troubles with

these people. Due to the troubles that continued, and further entreaties, another manwas sent, Captain Hobson, to be Lieutenant Governor of the infant State and bring

Law & Order to the lawless.

His instructions included the statement that:

The Queen, in common with Her Majestys predecessor, disclaims for herselfand her subjects every pretention to seize on the Islands of New Zealand, or to

govern them as a part of the Dominions of Great Britian unless the free andintelligent consent of the natives, expressed according to their established

usages, shall first be obtainedii

There was also a statement in regards to the cession of sovereignty to the Queen of

England:Her Majestys Government have resolved to authorise you to treat with theaborigines of New Zealand for the recognition of Her Majestys authority of

the whole or any part of those islands which they may be willing to place

under Her Majestys dominion.It is from these circumstances that Te Tiriti o Waitangi and The Treaty of Waitangi

came about.

Author/s of Te Tiriti o Waitangi:

Henry Williams was born in 1792 in Hampshire, England.iii He joined the Royal Navy

and rose to the rank of Lieutenant, before being discharged in 1815. He later enteredinto Missionary work, learning the trade well according to the reports that remain of

his work. His record in Aotearoa is unblemished (according to Pkeh whakaaro)

speaking of total devotion to the cause of bringing Christianity to the Mori.

Fluency in Te Reo Mori

According to various sources, Williams skill in Te Reo was of such a standard as to

be able to have translated the Anglican Prayer Book into Te Reo around 1827, as well

as preaching entirely in Te Reo to his various congregations!

The greatest test of his fluency prior to Te Tiriti o Waitangi was his translating of

He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Niu Tirani or A Declaration ofIndependence of Niu Tirani

Scholarship:

Language:

The language contained within Te Tiriti o Waitangi seems to be of an immature type,

judging by works that have survived from this period. This could be due to the fact

that Henry Williams was a second language learner, he taking lessons from local

Mori or from the local missionaries that populated the districts surrounding

Waitangi, or it could be because of a darker, more sinister notion was afoot. The

knowledge that the correct or more appropriate wording would turn what could be

termed as a successful meeting of two nations into a rebuff from which the BritishEmpire could not possibly return seems to have been a factor. Williams, by his own

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admission, was quite fluent in Te Reo, and in what has been termed Constitutional

Mori having translated the Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Niu Tirani just five

years before.

Content:

Within this document is the statements outlining the relationship between Mori ofAotearoa and the Queen of England. This relationship included the giving up or

ceding of Governorship of the land to the Queen of England, with the proviso that

they still retained their sovereigntyiv. This is mentioned in the lines:

Ko nga Rangatira o te wakaminenga me nga Rangatira katoa hoki kihai i uru ki

taua wakaminenga ka tuku rawa atu ki te Kuini o Ingarangi ake tonu atu tekawanagatanga katoa o o ratou wenuav

The Chiefs of (i.e. constituting) the Assembly, and all of the Chiefs who are

absent from the Assembly, shall cede to the Queen of England for ever thegovernment of all their lands.vi

Ko te Kuini o Ingarani ka wakarite ka wakaae ki nga Rangatira ki nga hapu ki nga

tangata katoa o Niu Tirani te tino Rangatiratanga o o ratou wenua o ratou kainga meo ratou taonga katoavii

The Queen of England acknowledges and guarantees to the Chiefs, the Tribes,and all the people of New Zealand, the entire supremacy of their lands, their

settlements, and of their personal propertyviii

Structure & Layout:

It is laid out in simple terms, with a preamble and three distinctive articles, that are

easy to read and thus are simple to understand. There is a fourth article which is not

written into the document, but is remembered by the people. This article speaks of the

Governor protecting the religions of Rome, England and ritenga Mori or Mori

belief systems.

The signatures are arranged in three columns with margins provided to take the

attestations of the witnesses. All in all, a succinctly laid out document.

According to official records Te Tiriti o Waitangi contains 512 signatures or marks of

Ng Rangatira Maori.

Audience it was written for:

This is a good example of a piece written for the intended audience i.e. Mori

Rangatira. The language used carries the imagery and symbolism found within

whaikrero and other speech making. It carried ambiguous language that has causedmany scholars and members of the Judiciary to discuss the meaning of different

words and contexts contained within, but when looked at in terms of the time, the

language used, was appropriate for a minister of the church.

Most of the controversy arises when the two texts are compared to one another, and

are found wanting in meaning and clarity.

The Treaty Of Waitangi:

Author/s of Te Tiriti o Waitangi:

It is reputed to be the ex British Resident, James Busby who is the author of the

Treaty of Waitangi.

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It has been claimed that he wrote the Treaty of Waitangi only after seeing the drafts

written by Hobson, who based those aforementioned drafts on the instructions he

received from Lord Normanby prior to his departure from England. Other notes were

also supplied by Hobsons secretary, J.S. Freeman, all of which he, Busby, deemed

were inadequate to accomplish the objectix.

There has been some argument about his skills to actually write such an important

document, and mention is always made of his lack of administrative experience

because prior to his appointment as British Resident, he was a Collector of Internal

Revenue and a member of the Land Board of New South Wales. But whatever the

argument on his appropriateness, it was his draft that became the official version.

Scholarship:

Language:

The language used within the Treaty of Waitangi is of a type expected for such an

important document. The convention of legal writing has been held to and is well

written in context for the times. To use the same language today would probablycause discussion, it being a little patronising in its tone, but again for the times this

was acceptable and in fact was expected.

Content:

Structure & Layout:

Again this document is laid out in simple terms, with a preamble and three distinctive

articles, that are easy to read and thus are simple to understand. The fourth article that

speaks of the Governor protecting the religions of Rome, England and ritenga

Mori or Mori belief systems is not mentioned at all.

The signatures are arranged in three columns with margins provided to take theattestations of the witnesses. Again, a succinct and well laid out document.

According to official records The Treaty of Waitangi contains only 39 signatures or

marks of ng Rangatira Maori, these being garnered from Rangatira at Manakau

Harbour, because the Mori text was unavailable.

Audience it was written for:

This document is another example of a paper being written for its proposed audience.

It is full of the Constitutional language that people would expect to find in a

document of this type. It also illustrates the thoughts of the times whereby the charity

and the gracious thoughts of the Queen of England are such as to provide protection

to the uncivilised natives of the world, who require such protection not only from thelawlessness of her own people, but also from themselves!

The whole essence of this document brings to the fore the illusion that the nation of

New Zealand was built on; That Mori gave away their sovereignty of Aotearoa to the

Queen and they did so knowingly and willingly because of the chance to gain

all rights and privileges of British Subjects.

Conclusion:

The words of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and The Treaty of Waitangi will always conjure up

controversy. This is because they are written in two different languages and are seen

from two different viewpoints. The principle of Contra-proferentum takes care of one

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problem, that being the language, but what of the other? What will take care of the

differing viewpoints?

This document has been described variously as a straightforward agreement

between two consenting parties, nothing morex, a temporary arrangement

between two sovereign powersxi to the treaty was used to allay any possiblewhite fears that white possession of Aotearoa was not all above board. After all,

whites say, the Mori chiefs signed away their sovereignty and that the lieperpetrated every year at Waitangixii.

Bibliography:

Buick, T.L. The Treaty of WaitangiThomas Avery & Sons Limited

New Plymouth 1933

Miller, H Race Conflict in New Zealand 1814 1865Blackwood & Janet Paul

Auckland 1966

Moon, P & Fenton, S Bound into a fateful union: Henry Williams translationof the Treaty of Waitangi into Mori in February 1840

Publisher unknown, presumably J.P.S. 2002

N.Z 1990 Commission Belonging Here/ Toi Taketake

The 150 Year DebateA selection of quotations on the Treaty of WaitangiNew Zealand 1990 Commission 1990

Orange, C The Treaty of WaitangiBridget Williams Books Limited

Wellington 1987

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i Buick (1933) pg.16ii Ibid pg.72iii Vosslamber & Vosslamber (1999) pg. 1 as cited in Moon & Fenton 2002 pg. 1iv As translated by J. Noble Coleman, 1865 and cited by Orange (1987) pg 262v Orange (1987) pg. 257vi Ibid. pg. 262vii Ibid pg. 257viii

Ibid pg. 262ix Orange (1987) pg.36xWaitangi Bill, cited in NZ 1990 Commission 1990 pg. 29xiProf. Gordon Parson, cited in abovexiiDonna Awatere, cited in above