Historical Background: PDF 142KB

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HE TIROHANGA Ö KAWA KI TE TIRITI O WAITANGIArticle IIIThis Article was designed to serve the goal of settlement while satisfyinghumanitarian interests. 141 In the English text, the Crown extended toMäori people “Her Royal Protection” and imparted to them “all therights and privileges of British subjects”. Similarly, in the translatedMäori text, the Crown promised to protect “all the ordinary people ofNew Zealand and give them the same rights and duties of citizenshipas the people of England”. Mäori almost certainly understood thattheir existence as a distinct people and their ways of life would beprotected (reinforcing the Crown’s obligations in Article II), and thatthey would enjoy an equitable share in all the benefits and innovationsof settlement.PostscriptThe Postscript refers to those willing to witness their agreement to theTreaty by recording their signatures or marks. While the English textemphasized that the chiefs had “been made to fully understand theProvisions of the foregoing Treaty” and entered into its “full spirit andmeaning”, the translated Mäori text records that the chiefs “meetinghere at Waitangi having seen the shape of these words … accept andagree to record our names and marks thus”.The English text would certainly have conveyed to the Colonial Officethat Hobson had followed Lord Normanby’s instructions, requiringthat the chiefs be fully cognisant of the implications of signing theTreaty by giving their “free intelligent consent”, thus enabling theBritish Crown to establish lawful government in New Zealand. TheWaitangi Tribunal interprets the emphasis on the full spirit of the Treatyin the English text as being essential to interpreting its meaning andsignificance today, which also accords with Mäori familiarity withintertribal oral compacts upheld by concepts of mana. The Courtshave held that this approach accords with a Mäori customary view.The “fourth Article” of the TreatyDuring the Waitangi signing of the Treaty, debate concerning ongoingrespect for Mäori customs and authority “became mixed with a disputeamongst the representatives of the missionary churches”. 142 TheFrench Roman Catholic Bishop, Pompallier, was concerned that thepredominance of the Anglican faith amongst the British representativesand missionaries would discourage Mäori from adopting Catholicism.Pompallier intervened, asking the Governor to give the assembledchiefs a guarantee that their religious freedom would be protected. Adeclaration was accordingly drafted, accepted by Hobson, and read tothose assembled, the text of which is recorded as:40
A GUIDE TO THE PRINCIPLES OF THE TREATY OF WAITANGI AS EXPRESSED BY THE COURTS & THE WAITANGI TRIBUNALE mea ana te Käwana ko ngä whakapono katoa o Ingarani, ongä Wëteriana, o Röma, me te ritenga Mäori hoki e tiakinengätahitia e ia. 143The Governor says the several faiths of England, of theWesleyans, of Rome, and also the Mäori custom, shall be alikeprotected by him. 144The declaration was never added to the text of the Treaty, and so isnot regarded as an official Article of the Treaty, but nonetheless itundoubtedly informed the views of Mäori considering the Treaty atWaitangi. The “fourth Article” retains significance for many Mäoritoday, who regard it as an important supplement to the promises madeto them in Articles II and III of the Treaty, particularly that Mäoricustoms and authority would be protected. 145Where has the Treaty been all these years?In recent decades, the Treaty has gained a new public prominence.This most recent phase in the life of the Treaty has as its immediatesource a wave of Mäori activism in the 1960s, building on the longtradition of Mäori efforts to have the Treaty guarantees upheld. Thissection summarizes the changing status of the Treaty from its signing,up to the 1975 establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal, and recordsthe approach taken by the Courts over this time. The history of theCrown-Mäori relationship is a complex and hotly debated one, andthis brief summary does not claim to do justice to the variedperspectives of those with an interest in the story.In the decade immediately following the signing of the Treaty, thepower balance between Europeans and Mäori remained in favour ofthe tribes. The number of European settlers was low, and the relativelysmall amount of land alienated to accommodate the new arrivals posedlittle threat to the power base of the tribes. Iwi and hapü retainedsubstantive control over their tribal domains, which included smallcommunities of settlers, dependent on the tribes for protection andfor their food supply. The relationship between Mäori and Crownwas conducted as a type of diplomatic relationship between QueenVictoria and her colonial representatives on the one hand, and thechiefs on the other. The Crown and Mäori both referred to the Treatyas the basis for their relationship, and Mäori relied on the Treaty whenobjecting to actions of the colonial government. In 1847, concernedby news that the Crown might be preparing to confiscate uncultivatedtribal lands, Te Wherowhero and four other major Waikato chiefsprepared a petition to Queen Victoria, requesting her personalassurance that the Treaty guarantees would be given effect. Thereassurance sought was given to the chiefs through Governor Grey. 14641
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Historical Background: PDF 142KB

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