Treaty of Waitangi

This treaty was made on February 6th in 1840 between British and Maori in Waitangi, which is located in North Island. It is said that this treaty is the first one in New Zealand.

Why Was it Needed?

By 1839, it is believed that over 2000 pakeha lived in New Zealand. As lots of pakeha settled in New Zealand, the trouble between pakeha and Maori happened, mainly over trading. British government thought some kind of treaty was needed to prevent from false trading done by Maori, and they also wanted to protect the interest for them.

What Was Agreed on That Treaty?

Maori approved to give their interest to the Britain. Instead of that, Maori was guaranteed to own capital, and they also got the citizenship as English. British first got northern part of New Zealand, then claimed South Island belonged to Britain since it was first found by Captain Cook from Britain.

Controversy

The translation from English to Maori for treaty had some mistakes. For example, there was no word for “sovereignty” in Maori; therefore, Henry Williams used the word, “kawanatanga”, but actually the word means closer to “governance”. Due to the difference of the understanding, Maori thought that all lands belong to us, meanwhile British thought that New Zealand was colony of Britain.