Claiming the land 1840–1860

Abstract

Struggles for land have swirled around the Treaty of Waitangi of 6 February 1840, an instrument unique less in its making than in what it has become – for indigenous rights and as a mission statement for a single country – with grand goals achieved at minimal cost. Beforehand, Captain Hobson read three announcements at the Anglican Church at Kororareka (Russell) on 30 January. The first extended the boundaries of New South Wales to include New Zealand; the second declared him Lieutenant-Governor; and the third established that land titles would derive from the Crown. To secure annexation by consent Hobson next drafted a treaty as instructed by the Colonial Office. Busby redrafted the treaty to include a promise that Britain would guarantee Maori possession of their lands and other properties, for which British humanitarianism provided precedents in North America and West Africa. Without this assurance Busby knew the chiefs would not sign. Overnight, the missionary Henry Williams and his son Edward translated the text into Maori so that chiefs could discuss it, which they did all day at Busby's house on 5 February, until Hobson, several English residents and about 45 Maori chiefs signed the Maori translation of the Treaty of Waitangi on 6 February. This initial signing was done in haste; Hobson barely had time to grab his plumed hat from HMS Herald . If for Hobson a treaty offered chiefs protection, for missionaries it was a covenant between Maori and the Queen as head of the English church and state. For rangatira, though, their chieftainship demanded equality in rank and power to the new Governor, as Tareha declared: ‘We chiefs are the rulers and we won't be ruled over. If we were all to have a rank equal to you that might be acceptable. But if we are going to be subordinate to you, then I say get back to your ship and sail away’. Only a few welcomed Hobson as a harbinger of peace and new laws to manage the impact of disease, cultural and social disturbance, and firepower. It remained for Ngapuhi chief Tamati Waka Nene to turn debate in favour of the treaty with his argument that it was too late to reject Hobson; settlers were already arriving; the Governor would be a friend, a judge and a peacemaker. Such a ‘battle of words’ did ‘justice to the cause’, clearing the air before a leader's address ended debate.