Treaty of Waitangi

The Treaty of Waitangi (Māori: Te Tiriti o Waitangi), sometimes referred to as Te Tiriti, is a document of central importance to the history of New Zealand, its constitution, and its national mythos. It has played a major role in the treatment of the Māori people in New Zealand by successive governments and the wider population, something that has been especially prominent from the late 20th century. Although the Treaty of Waitangi is not incorporated as a binding international treaty within New Zealand's domestic law, its status at international law is debated.^[1][2] It was first signed on 6 February 1840 by Captain William Hobson as consul for the British Crown and by Māori chiefs (rangatira) from the North Island of New Zealand. The treaty's status has clouded the question of whether Māori had ceded sovereignty to the Crown in 1840, and if so, whether such sovereignty remains intact.^[3]

The treaty was written at a time when the New Zealand Company, acting on behalf of large numbers of settlers and would-be settlers, was establishing a colony in New Zealand, and when some Māori leaders had petitioned the British for protection against French ambitions. Once it had been written and translated, it was first signed by Northern Māori leaders at Waitangi. Copies were subsequently taken around New Zealand and over the following months many other chiefs signed.^[4] Around 530 to 540 Māori, at least 13 of them women, signed the Māori language version of the Treaty of Waitangi, despite some Māori leaders cautioning against it.^[5][6] Only 39 signed the English version.^[7] An immediate result of the treaty was that Queen Victoria's government gained the sole right to purchase land.^[8] In total there are nine signed copies of the Treaty of Waitangi, including the sheet signed on 6 February 1840 at Waitangi.^[9]

The Treaty includes a preamble and three articles. There are two texts of the Treaty, one in English and one in the Māori language.^[10]

• Article one of the Māori text grants kawanatanga, translated by Hugh Kawharu as complete governance, to the Crown while the English text cedes "all the rights and powers of sovereignty" to the Crown.^[11]
• Article two of the Māori text uses the word rangatiratanga, translated by Hugh Kawharu as full chieftainship, to describe the chieftainship exercised by Māori over their lands, villages and all their treasures, and that Māori agreed to sell land at agreed prices to the Queen and her agents.^[11] The English text establishes the full, exclusive and undisturbed ownership of the Māori over their lands and establishes the exclusive right of pre-emption of the Crown.^[11]
• Article three of the Māori text guaranteed Māori the protection of the Queen and the rights and duties of British citizenship.^[11] The English text grants Māori people royal protection and the rights and privileges of British subjects.^[11]

The two texts differ, particularly in relation to the meaning of having and ceding sovereignty.^[12][13] The rangatira initially viewed it as an agreement to share power and authority on equal terms; the Crown has always viewed it as the acquisition of Māori consent to cession of sovereignty.^[14] These differences created disagreements in the decades following the signing, eventually contributing to the New Zealand Wars of 1845 to 1872 and continuing through to the Treaty of Waitangi settlements starting in the early 1990s. In the period following the New Zealand Wars, the New Zealand government mostly ignored the treaty, and a court judgement in 1877 declared it to be "a simple nullity".

Beginning in the 1970s with a renewed Māori protest movement, Māori increasingly sought the recognition of the Treaty, sparking nation-wide debate over its meaning and interpretation, particularly in contemporary society.^[15] Governments in the 1960s and 1970s responded to these arguments, giving the treaty an increasingly central role in the interpretation of land rights and relations between Māori people and the state.

In 1975 the New Zealand Parliament passed the Treaty of Waitangi Act, establishing the Waitangi Tribunal as a permanent commission of inquiry tasked with determining the meaning and effect of the two texts of the Treaty, investigating breaches of the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi by the Crown or its agents, and recommending means of redress.^[12][16] The Office of Treaty Settlements was set up in 1988 to negotiate settlements on behalf of the Crown to resolve claims about historical breaches of the Treaty directly with iwi. Settlements with a total value of roughly $1 billion have been awarded.^[12][17] Various legislation passed in the latter part of the 20th century has made reference to the treaty, which has led to ad hoc incorporation of the treaty into law.^[18] Increasingly, the treaty is recognised as a founding document in New Zealand's developing unwritten constitution.^[19][20][21] The New Zealand Day Act 1973 established Waitangi Day as a national holiday to commemorate the signing of the treaty.