Treaty of Waitangi

Having zoomed through Auckland in three hours, touring almost every hostel in the Lying Planet to put up our van adverts, we have come up through Northland to the Bay of Islands. We're staying in Kerikeri, a small town on the northern edge of the bay. Although the weather has been pretty grey and miserable, we thought we'd better do some sightseeing... to this end we found ourselves at Waitangi, the site in 1840 of the Treaty of Waitangi which was an historic agreement between the Maori leaders and the Pakeha or white men. This gave the Maori autonomy over their lands, animals and fishing rights in exchange for their acceptance of British sovereignty.
Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson and James Busby, the British Resident in New Zealand had the task of securing British sovereignty over New Zealand. The Treaty was prepared in just a few days. Missionary Henry Williams and his son Edward translated the English draft into Māori overnight on 4 February. About 500 Māori debated the document for a day and night, and it was signed on 6 February.
Hobson and others stressed the Treaty's benefits while playing down the effects of British sovereignty on rangatiratanga (chieftainship or authority). Reassured that their status and authority would be strengthened, many chiefs supported the agreement. About 40 chiefs, starting with Hone Heke, signed the Māori version of the Treaty on 6 February. By September that year, another 500 had signed copies of the document that went around the country. Some signed while remaining uncertain; others refused, or had no chance to sign. Almost all signed the Māori text. The Colonial Office in England later declared that the Treaty applied to Māori tribes that had not signed. Sovereignty was proclaimed over the country on 21 May 1840.
Here endeth the lesson! We looked at impressive Maori traditional canoes, made in the traditional manner of the ones used for the original journey from Tahiti, and saw the Treaty House, erected on the 100th anniversary of the treaty in 1940 and decorated with all the differing patterns and insignia of each tribe.