Reports: Treaty of Waitangi

Introduction

Now I am going to introduce the Treaty of Waitangi and firstly, I would like to write down the reason that I chose this topic as an introduction. I thought that I had much information of the Treaty at first. And, I was interested in historical events. That is to say, I was interested in what has been done in New Zealand. These are the reasons.

What is the Treaty of Waitangi?

The Treaty of Waitangi is the document for founding New Zealand and it is famous for the shortness; only three articles are in the Treaty (Maori version). Also, it takes its name from the place where it was first signed. The Treaty was made between the British Crown and about 540 Maori chiefs.

Before signing the Treaty

In the first of 19 century, many settlers came from Europe, and explored the lands and started working. Soon, some settlers behaved at their will, and whole New Zealand became lawless nation. Moreover, French wanted to annex New Zealand. Maori were afraid of these situations, therefore they implored to British government to protect them in 1831. Two years later, British Resident, James Busby, came to New Zealand for Maori protection, growing numbers of settlers, and trade interest. By the way, he is the first key person of the Treaty. Two more years later, he drew up the He Wakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga (the Declaration of independence of New Zealand), and it was signed by 52 Maori chiefs. The content of the declaration asserted the independence, and all sovereign power and authority remained Maori chiefs and tribes. In 1837, British government decided to intervene New Zealand to ensure the colonization and land transaction that defrauded Maori were stopped. Then, the second key person of the Treaty, William Hobson, was appointed as consul to New Zealand in 1839. He worked for obtaining sovereignty over all or part of New Zealand.
And then, on 6 February 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. Almost all Maori chiefs were suspicious of the Treaty because the intention was unclear. Nevertheless, Tamati Waka Nene was accepted the treaty. He has been said that he was the first Maori chief who accepted the Treaty. After all, however, most of Maori chiefs signed the Maori text of the Treaty. After signing, they were involved in troublesome accidents.

Contents of the Treaty

In the Maori text, British Crown guaranteed rangatiratanga and taonga. Taonga means authority and taonga is property (e.g. lands, culture, languages etc.). Instead of these things, Maori gave up their kawanatanga. Maori thought that the word ‘kawanatanga’ meant ‘governance’. They believed that their authority still remained them if the government was managed by Britain.
On the other hand, Maori gave up the kawanatanga to Queen, and allowed the exclusive right to purchase their lands in the English text. Instead, Queen guaranteed to protect Maori. And ‘kawanatanga’ in the English text meant ‘sovereignty’; therefore both interpretations, English and Maori, were widely different.

Different interpretation

I mentioned the meaning of ‘kawanatanga’ in the chapter above. Maori thought it was governance, however Britain meant it was sovereignty. British government intended to have all sovereignty power and authority over New Zealand. Though, Maori chiefs believed that their power was guaranteed to protect. These differences of interpretation have been still controversial. However, how were the differences made?
It has been said that the word ‘kawanatanga’ did not have definite meaning when the Treaty was translated. William Hobson intended to express that Queen had all sovereignty and the translator of the Treaty, Henry Williams and his son Edward were hard to define the meaning of ‘sovereignty’ in Maori. Eventually, they decided to put the word ‘kawanatanga’ because they thought that this word was the closest meaning to express ‘sovereignty’.

(this section was referred to here)

After signing the Treaty

Because of the differences of the interpretation, British and Maori often conflicted. In 1840, about three months later the signature the Treaty, William Hobson proclaimed sovereign over all of New Zealand. After that, all Maori deemed under the Crown authority. Then, Wairau incident was occurred in 1843. Europeans and Maori clashed in the Wairau Valley in this incident. Then up to five Maori, and 22 Europeans were killed. And, Hone Heke cut down the British flagpole four times for the resistance against British control. From 1845 to 1846, Britain and Maori fought in Kororareka (now Russell), and British won the war and governor George Grey claimed victory and Maori submission. In 1860, New Zealand Wars began. These were the biggest wars that Britain and Maori had ever fought, I suppose. And then, Britain had been eager to take the Maori land and Maori had reacted what Britain had done to them for a long time. Then, the position of Maori had been getting smaller, and the protection that was guaranteed by the Treaty was almost ignored. However, such situation changed in 1975.

The Waitangi Tribunal

New Zealand government passed the Treaty of Waitangi Act and in 1975, the Waitangi Tribunal was established. This commission was founded for protecting Maori, under the oppression for a long time. In this Tribunal, Maori can request their grievances (complaints) if Britain violates the Treaty. And if the Tribunal decides that grievances are reasonable, Maori will give some compensation. The Tribunal is necessary in New Zealand today that Maori have better life.

Conclusion

Finally, I will write some opinion on the Treaty of Waitangi. This Treaty is marvelous for Maori (of course, I mean that the Maori text is marvelous!), however Britain had intended to gain their interests on New Zealand, so the Treaty had been ignored for a long time. Nevertheless, they reacted for British colonization and finally, a little bit though, I felt that their property and position are getting better, thanks to the Waitangi Tribunal. I hope that both Maori and English can live together more friendly.

References

Most of the contents are referred to Treaty of Waitangi section in NZhistory.