An outline, era by era

New Zealand

Treaty of Waitangi (1840)

Late Modern Era / 19th Century · ~1800 – 1914

New Zealand is a country of two main islands in the south-west Pacific, first settled by Polynesian voyagers who became the Māori, probably in the late thirteenth century CE. European contact began with Abel Tasman in 1642 and James Cook in 1769. From the 1790s whalers, sealers and traders came, followed by missionaries from 1814 and settlers in growing numbers.

The Treaty of Waitangi was signed on 6 February 1840 at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands between representatives of the British Crown and many Māori chiefs. It exists in a Māori and an English text, which differ in important ways. Britain used it to claim sovereignty and establish a colony, and it led to rapid settlement, land loss and the wars of the 1860s. The Treaty remains central to New Zealand law, politics and national identity.

Things happened, and the rest is history

  1. Polynesian settlement of Aotearoa

    Event

    What happened

    Voyagers from eastern Polynesia sail south and reach the islands of New Zealand, probably in the late thirteenth century CE. They bring crops, dogs and rats, and settle along the coasts. They hunt moa and seals and develop a distinct Māori culture.

    The rest is history

    Radiocarbon dating of early sites such as Wairau Bar shows settlement within a short period around 1250 to 1300. The moa were hunted to extinction within about a century or two. Māori society later organised into iwi and hapū, each with its own territory. These groups were the parties who dealt with Europeans in 1840.

    Sources

    1. BookAnderson, Atholl, Judith Binney, and Aroha Harris. Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History. Wellington: Bridget Williams Books, 2014.
    2. ArticleWilmshurst, Janet M., Terry L. Hunt, Carl P. Lipo, and Atholl J. Anderson. "High-precision radiocarbon dating shows recent and rapid initial human colonization of East Polynesia." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108, no. 5 (2011): 1815-1820.

  2. Tasman and Cook reach New Zealand

    Event

    What happened

    In December 1642 the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman sights the west coast of New Zealand and has a deadly clash with Māori at Golden Bay. In October 1769 James Cook arrives on the Endeavour and spends months charting the coasts. His maps and journals make the islands known in Europe.

    The rest is history

    Tasman never landed, and Europeans did not return for over a century. Cook's voyages led to British interest in the islands for timber, flax, seals and whales. Sustained contact followed from the 1790s. Cook's journals remain a primary record of Māori life at first contact.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryCook, James. The Journals of Captain Cook. Edited by J. C. Beaglehole. Cambridge: Hakluyt Society, 1955-1967.
    2. BookSalmond, Anne. Two Worlds: First Meetings between Maori and Europeans 1642-1772. Auckland: Viking, 1991.

  3. Traders, whalers and the Musket Wars

    Event

    What happened

    From the 1790s whalers, sealers and traders visit the coasts, and Māori trade flax, timber and food for goods including muskets. From about 1807 to the 1830s, conflicts between iwi, now fought with muskets, spread across the North Island and beyond. Introduced diseases also take a heavy toll.

    The rest is history

    The Musket Wars killed many thousands and displaced groups across the country. Historians debate the numbers and the causes. The disruption, along with growing lawlessness at ports like Kororāreka, increased calls for British intervention. Māori population fell sharply over the nineteenth century.

    Sources

    1. BookCrosby, Ron. The Musket Wars: A History of Inter-Iwi Conflict 1806-45. Auckland: Reed, 1999.
    2. BookBelich, James. Making Peoples: A History of the New Zealanders. Auckland: Penguin, 1996.

  4. Missionaries arrive and the Māori language is written

    Event

    What happened

    In December 1814 Samuel Marsden of the Church Missionary Society preaches at Rangihoua in the Bay of Islands, under the protection of chiefs such as Ruatara and Hongi Hika. Missionaries set up schools and in the 1820s develop a written form of Māori. The Bible and other texts are printed in Māori from the 1830s.

    The rest is history

    Many Māori became literate in their own language within a generation, and large numbers adopted Christianity in the 1830s. Missionaries also became a link between chiefs and the British. Missionaries such as Henry Williams later helped translate the Treaty in 1840.

    Sources

    1. BookBinney, Judith. The Legacy of Guilt: A Life of Thomas Kendall. Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1968.
    2. BookBelich, James. Making Peoples: A History of the New Zealanders. Auckland: Penguin, 1996.

  5. The 1835 Declaration of Independence

    Event

    What happened

    In October 1835 chiefs of the Northern region sign He Whakaputanga, the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand, drawn up with the British Resident James Busby. It declares the chiefs' authority over the land and asks the British king to act as protector. Further chiefs sign in the following years.

    The rest is history

    Britain acknowledged the declaration, which strengthened the idea that Māori held authority that had to be dealt with by agreement. It also showed chiefs' wish for order without losing control. It is often read as a background to the Treaty of 1840, though its legal weight is debated.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryHe Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni (Declaration of Independence of New Zealand). Signed at Waitangi, 28 October 1835. Archives New Zealand.
    2. BookOrange, Claudia. The Treaty of Waitangi. Wellington: Allen & Unwin, 1987.

  6. The New Zealand Company and British policy

    Event

    What happened

    In 1839 the New Zealand Company, led by Edward Gibbon Wakefield, sends the Tory to buy land and plan settlements, and its first settlers sail for Port Nicholson in 1840. The British government, advised by missionaries and officials, instructs Captain William Hobson to seek Māori cession of sovereignty. Hobson is named consul and lieutenant-governor.

    The rest is history

    Britain feared disorder and a French claim, as French settlers were planning a colony at Akaroa. Hobson's instructions from Lord Normanby said that sovereignty should be obtained only with Māori consent. The Company's plans sped up the British decision, and its settlers arrived before the Treaty was fully signed.

    Sources

    1. BookOrange, Claudia. The Treaty of Waitangi. Wellington: Allen & Unwin, 1987.
    2. BookAdams, Peter. Fatal Necessity: British Intervention in New Zealand 1830-1847. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1977.

  7. Signing the Treaty of Waitangi, 1840

    Event

    What happened

    On 5 and 6 February 1840 Hobson meets northern chiefs at Waitangi, where a Māori text drafted and translated by Henry Williams is debated and signed by around 40 chiefs. Copies are then taken around the country, and by September more than 500 chiefs have signed. Hobson proclaims British sovereignty over the North Island in May and over the South Island in June 1840.

    The rest is history

    The Māori text, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, speaks of kāwanatanga (governance) for the Crown and tino rangatiratanga (chiefly authority) for Māori. The English text speaks of sovereignty. This difference has been argued over ever since. New Zealand became a separate colony in 1841.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryTe Tiriti o Waitangi and the Treaty of Waitangi. Signed at Waitangi, 6 February 1840. Archives New Zealand.
    2. BookOrange, Claudia. The Treaty of Waitangi. Wellington: Allen & Unwin, 1987.

  8. The Northern War and the wars over land

    Event

    What happened

    In 1845 to 1846 Hōne Heke and Kawiti fight British forces in the north, after Heke cuts down the flagstaff at Kororāreka. In the 1860s conflict over land spreads to Taranaki, Waikato and elsewhere. The government confiscates large areas of Māori land.

    The rest is history

    The wars showed that many Māori had not given up authority. Settler numbers grew quickly, passing Māori numbers by around 1860. The confiscations caused lasting grievance. The Waitangi Tribunal, set up in 1975, has since investigated these claims, and the Crown has made settlements with many iwi.

    Sources

    1. BookBelich, James. The New Zealand Wars and the Victorian Interpretation of Racial Conflict. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1986.
    2. BookOrange, Claudia. The Treaty of Waitangi. Wellington: Allen & Unwin, 1987.

  9. Kupe and the Great Fleet

    Origin story

    The legend

    The navigator Kupe discovers Aotearoa from Hawaiki, chasing a giant octopus. Later, around 1350, a great fleet of seven canoes sails together from Hawaiki, and each Māori tribe descends from one of its canoes.

    The rest is history

    Kupe is a figure in Māori tradition, and the stories of voyaging canoes are important to iwi identity. The idea of a single Great Fleet in 1350 was put together by Europeans, notably S. Percy Smith, in the 1890s from varied tribal accounts. Later scholars showed that it was not a traditional Māori story. Archaeology and DNA point to a settlement of several voyages in the late thirteenth century.

    Sources

    1. BookHowe, K. R. The Quest for Origins. Auckland: Penguin, 2003.
    2. BookSimmons, D. R. The Great New Zealand Myth. Wellington: Reed, 1976.

  10. Māui fishes up the North Island

    Myth

    The legend

    The demigod Māui sails with his brothers and, using a hook made from his grandmother's jawbone, pulls up a huge fish from the sea. It becomes the North Island, Te Ika a Māui. The South Island is his canoe.

    The rest is history

    This is one of many Māui stories told across Polynesia, where Māui pulls islands from the sea in several places. It is a Māori cosmological account rather than a record of events. The tales were first written down by Europeans and Māori in the nineteenth century, notably by Sir George Grey in 1855. They show the shared Polynesian origins of Māori culture.

    Sources

    1. BookGrey, George. Polynesian Mythology and Ancient Traditional History of the New Zealanders. London: John Murray, 1855.
    2. BookOrbell, Margaret. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Maori Myth and Legend. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press, 1995.

  11. The Treaty as a deal of equal partners

    Popular belief

    The legend

    It is often said that the Treaty of Waitangi was a simple agreement in which Māori and the Crown agreed to share the country as equal partners, and that both versions say the same thing.

    The rest is history

    The two texts differ. The Māori text promised the Crown kāwanatanga and guaranteed chiefs tino rangatiratanga over their lands and treasures. The English text had Māori cede sovereignty. Many chiefs signed the Māori text, and the English text was signed by only a few. Courts and the Waitangi Tribunal now use the principles of the Treaty, such as partnership and good faith, which developed from 1975 onwards.

    Sources

    1. BookOrange, Claudia. The Treaty of Waitangi. Wellington: Allen & Unwin, 1987.
    2. BookRoss, Ruth. Te Tiriti o Waitangi: Texts and Translations. Auckland: New Zealand Journal of History, 1972.

  12. The Treaty was signed by a defeated people

    Popular belief

    The legend

    Some tell it that Māori signed the Treaty after being conquered, or that the chiefs did not know what they were signing and were tricked with gifts.

    The rest is history

    Māori were not conquered in 1840. They outnumbered settlers by many times, and the chiefs debated the terms at length at Waitangi, with some, such as Te Kemara and Rewa, opposing it. Some chiefs in Waikato and Tūhoe never signed. Hobson's own record shows the Crown sought consent. The real difficulty was the differing meanings of the two texts.

    Sources

    1. BookOrange, Claudia. The Treaty of Waitangi. Wellington: Allen & Unwin, 1987.
    2. BookBelich, James. Making Peoples: A History of the New Zealanders. Auckland: Penguin, 1996.

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