A Treaty Ahead of It’s Time… But Still With Complications…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

There are two places here at Waitangi that I distinctly remember from the trip I made here as a teenager.

The flagpole is one of them and the Treaty House is the other.  I’m not of  Maori decent but in my opinion I consider all people born in New Zealand to be equal New Zealanders no matter what cultural liniage they have behind them.

We are one people and one nation and I believe that’s how things should be.

My personal opinion is that Nationhood in New Zealand evolved more over a series of  historical events rather than on any specific day but this place is one that has special significance because it is where one of these first events took place.

For once in the British Empire proposed an  official Treaty be made between native peoples and  white settlers that attempted to represent a more fair and balanced partnership than had ever taken place before or since.

I’m not saying it’s perfect, far from it… but it shows a level of understanding that was far ahead of it’s time considering the time in which it was written.

What helped this come to pass is the several pivotal people were involved in the making of the Treaty, one was Reverend Henry Williams who not only joined other missionaries who settled in the Bay of Islands but also was culturally open to learning the Maori language , and how the Maori community worked on a practical level and he advised James Busby who helped write the Treaty along with James Freeman.

The fact that Maori ways were mostly respected was also unusual for this time, and since Williams had a hand in the treaty as the translator, the finished document no doubt had his subtle influence embedded in it to a certain degree.

Some of the origonal text includes:

All dealings with the Aborigines for their Lands must be conducted on the same principles of sincerity, justice, and good faith as must govern your transactions with them for the recognition of Her Majesty’s Sovereignty in the Islands. 

Nor is this all. They must not be permitted to enter into any Contracts in which they might be ignorant and unintentional authors of injuries to themselves.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

You will not, for example, purchase from them any Territory the retention of which by them would be essential, or highly conducive, to their own comfort, safety or subsistence.

The acquisition of Land by the Crown for the future Settlement of British Subjects must be confined to such Districts as the Natives can alienate without distress or serious inconvenience to themselves.

To secure the observance of this rule will be one of the first duties of their official protector.

The main point of contention with regards to the Treaty comes from several major  errors, the biggest of course being that the Maori translation does not fully or in some part even partially match the English text, so the two parties naturally had a very different understanding of the agreement they were signing.

Some argue this happened only because the Maori translation was rushed (it was handed to Williams at 4.00 p.m. on the 4th of February to be translated and presented for signatures the next day on the 5th), some  argue it was intentionally misleading.

It was also come to  light that there are multiple drafts of the Treaty in existence, with additions and omissions as it took shape. James Stuart Freeman was responsible for much of this and it’s possible that the “certification of translation” that Williams wrote on the translation that was presented for signatures may actually have pertained to one of the draft documents and not the final version.

The website: http://www.treatyofwaitangi.net.nz/CertifiedTreaty.html tells us:

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 There is a major problem with the general conclusion adhered to by establishment historians, as ‘A comparison of all five English versions with the Maori text makes it clear that the Maori text was not a translation of any one of these English versions’. Williams had used some other, now missing, final draft, handed to him on the 4th of February 1840 and with it had achieved ‘as Literal a translation of the Treaty of Waitangi as the idiom of Language will admit of’.

It’s unfortunate that Freeman did not have the foresight to write the qualifying statement: “I certify that the above is as Literal a translation of the Treaty of Waitangi as the idiom of Language will admit of” on either this handwritten Maori text sheet by Williams or onto the three printed Maori copies despatched on the 21st of February, rather than at the bottom of his own “Royal Style” English copy. In that age of innocence, no one could predict the machinations of a “grievance industry” 140-years into the future (see Volume G-30/1, pp. 25-27, National Archives of New Zealand, Wellington).

Some land settlements had by all accounts (of both parties) been fairly and amicably transacted but in some instances descendants of these people disagreed with the transaction in principle and wished to contest them, sometimes a century later, naturally leading to contention of sour grapes and allegations of greed  towards the Maori involved.

Other land transactions have been clearly been mishandled right from the beginning and I read somewhere years ago that (in East Cape I think)  there is one on-going unresolved case that’s been backwards and forwards before the courts for over 100  years … in this instance I think that the Maori involved have a clear case of injustice and the whole thing should be resolved in their favour since they have raised clear objections from the moment the “deal” was imposed on them.

Within Maoridom and within New Zealand today there are of course a few agitators who opinions are intolerant from one extreme to another but most New Zealanders I know (and the rest I hope) believe that we are all equal as  ”Kiwi’s” and that we should stand and fall together for each other as a nation.

Waitangi represents  for me the place where people with great cultural differences at least tried to come together peacefully with good intentions.  In practice it’s far from perfect but considering human history in general and  the limits and failings of human nature, it could actually have been a document far far worse. It’s also  reminder that even with the best of intentions that when human beings are involved that things invariably get complicated and that the repercussions can be far reaching and contentious as they are still with the Treaty even today.

New Zealand might have had a few isolated Maori/settler skirmishes but avoided all out civil war in great part due to this Treaty so I personally am proud to be  a Kiwi standing here at Waitangi…

I can only hope that the spirit of good intention and forward thinking are a concept and tradition that the country carries on in centuries to come.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

An Entreating Treaty House…

There was a building at Waitangi at the time of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi… this is now called the Treaty House. Let’s take a look at the outside:

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Requesting a Treaty…

Interestingly the request for a Treaty in New Zealand was instigated not by white (“Pakeha”) settlers but by a contingent of Maori who appealed to the British to help them settle continuous infighting amongst Maori tribes.

For more than a decade Missionaries had been encouraging Maori to set up self governance but there was such disagreement and indeed tribal wars between the Chiefs, that Maori were in grave danger of wiping themselves out before settling their disputes.

The website: http://www.treatyofwaitangi.net.nz/WhyaTreaty.html tells us:

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

  After Cook’s three exploratory voyages (commencing) in the 1760′s and the establishment of a British penal colony in Australia, trade and Christianity came to New Zealand.

British, French and American vessels began visiting New Zealand harbours in the late 18th century to refresh and refit.

From the early 1800′s commercial trading started in New Zealand with timber, flax, shore whaling, ship building and general trade with the Maoris and non-Maoris who had established themselves in New Zealand.

By the 1830′s the coast was dotted with trade settlers as well as several missionaries who had also purchased land and set up home.

However, after 1830 purchases of land grew until there were quite large acreages of land owned by non-Maori. By 1839 there were 2000 permanent settlers, 28 onshore fisheries and many commercial ventures in flax, timber and ship building, plus general and domestic trade by non-Maori.

Until 1832 the British or Imperial Government was reluctant to intervene in New Zealand, but as more and more settlers arrived and trade and investments expanded, the British Government felt responsible for her people and their investments as well as the Maori. 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

They did pass three acts in 1817, 1823 and 1828 in an attempt to bring law and order, but as New Zealand was outside the British Dominion, these were unsuccessful. In 1820, after Hongi had slaughtered many thousands of the Thames Maoris, they requested that Britain afford them protection.

By the early 1830′s trade between New Zealand had become so intense that there could be up to 30 ships at anchor and 1000 seamen on shore at any one time but still no law to control them or the Maori.

The 1828 Act did empower the courts to deal with crimes by British subjects but these had to be heard in Sydney and therefore it was difficult to get all parties together at the same time.

While British interests and investments continued to increase and become predominant at the time, French and American activity was also on the increase. This worried the British as they were beginning to build up large capital investments in New Zealand but with no protection if  New Zealand were to be annexed by another nation. 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Many events sparked off Maori appeals to Britain for protection. The first in 1831 when it was rumoured that the French naval vessel La Favourite intended to annex New Zealand to France in retaliation for the killing of Marion du Fresne and his crew.

The Maoris even discussed a letter to the King  but decided on placing a British flag on the mission flagstaff, reasoning that if the French tore it down, the missionaries would appeal to Britain for protection.

After this 13 powerful northern chiefs sent a letter to the King asking him to become their friend, guardian and protector of these islands.

Captain William Hobson was charged with the mission of instigating a Treaty in New Zealand and after a lengthy consultation with Governor George Gipps in Australia, he arrived in New Zealand aboard HMS Herald on the 29th of February 1840, fully briefed on what the Treaty must say.

On the 5th and 6th of February 1840 he  landed at the place now known as Hobson’s Beach (first photo)  and walked up to the Treaty grounds to negotiate the Treaty of Waitangi with the Maori Chiefs. There were more than 500 Maori present and this flagpole designates the spot where they met for the formal negotiations.

It’s also the spot where from 1934 New Zealanders hold the official Waitangi Day ceremonies.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)