William Hobson is sent to negotiate a treaty

When: 14 August 1839
Reach: Nationwide

The Colonial Office instructed Hobson to obtain the free and intelligent consent of Māori to British sovereignty — the brief that produced Te Tiriti six months later.

Lord Normanby’s instructions acknowledged New Zealand as a sovereign and independent state whose people could not be dispossessed without consent, and directed Hobson to treat for sovereignty rather than assert it. They also told him to establish Crown pre-emption over land sales. The gap between those instructions, the English text drafted in January 1840 and the te reo Māori text actually signed is the origin of nearly every Treaty argument since.

See it on the map More from Contact & the musket era

Regions affected

NorthlandNationwide

Sources

Written for this project from these references rather than copied from them. Follow a link to check the account against the original.

The Treaty in briefNZHistory, Manatū Taonga

6 February 1840 – 3 September 1840Treaty

Te Tiriti o Waitangi is signed

Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Around 540 rangatira signed Te Tiriti at Waitangi and at more than 50 meetings around the country. The English and te reo Māori texts do not say the same thing, and never have.

Waitangi 28 October 1835Treaty

He Whakaputanga — Declaration of Independence

He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni

Rangatira of the Confederation of United Tribes declared New Zealand an independent state, with all sovereign power residing in the assembled chiefs.

Waitangi 1831Treaty

Northern chiefs petition King William IV

Thirteen rangatira asked the King to be a friend and guardian of these islands, worried by lawless traders and by rumours of French designs.

Kerikeri 30 October 1865Treaty

The Native Land Court is established

The court converted customary communal title into individual freehold — the mechanism by which most remaining Māori land was lost, without a shot fired.