Sidestep: Treaty Settlements

This is an adendum to the yesterdays post of 11th Jan.

We mentioned the treaty. Ignoring the political, here are the facts as a brief history lesson on how the treaty came about. It is in no way an exhaustive explanation..it is as we have said...brief!

1. With the arrival of the musket, Maori began trading for them (to wipe out their enemies)

2. This started much trade between Europeans and Maori

3. But with Muskets Maori began to war against other Maori and about 20,000 Maori died at the hands of those from the north who traded for muskets.

4. Those without muskets were now forced to trade with the Pakeha to obtain a means of

protection.

5. The wars changed many traditional tribal boundaries (5-35 years before the treaty was signed)

6. In 1830 there were 100,000 Maori and about 200 Pakeha living here.

7. Whalers, who had been arriving since 1820's in large numbers, brought drunkenness and disease when they came ashore in huge numbers. This disturbed Maori greatly, which is one of the reasons the treaty was signed.

8. Between 1830-1840 trade grew at a great rate. Intermarriage was more common as a result of

acceptance of Pakeha and their new ways.

9. Missionaries arriving from Catholic France and Protestant Britain had a powerful influence on

Maori. Many helped to get a humanitarian policy formed for the benefit of Maori. They were

concerned with the musket wars, the bad influence whalers had introduced, and the effects of large

land sales beginning to occur.

10. Missionaries introduced farming, reading and writing. The relationship between Maori and

Missionary was therefore cordial. It was they who encouraged Maori to sign the treaty to

prevent the wholesale sale of land by certain colluding chiefs and Pakeha.

11. Not only did books open up a new world, many Maori travelled the world, seeing new things

and even meeting the King of England.

12. With the exceedingly bad times of the 1830's, the chiefs of the northern areas (where most

Europeans existed) sent a petition of King George for formal protection. The Missionaries

assisted with this.

13. But with the new threat of the French taking over, a draft Declaration of Independence was

drawn up in 1835. Eventually 34 northern chiefs would signed it.

14. The Declaration of Independence was going to be a problem with annexation, so the Treaty

of Waitangi was drawn up and the initial signatories of the (D of I) were encouraged to sign

it. In the end, the Treaty of Waitangi was all about trade - for both sides.

The treaty was for the benefit of those who 'owned' the lands at the time of signing. Note however, that the musket wars changed the landscape and many had little or no lands left to claim. And that is just the Maori that the Europeans encountered. No previous peoples who were here before had any such protection by the Crown, and few Pakeha even knew they existed at that time.

Here is an extract from another site giving a clear concise explanation:

"In the first four decades of the 19th century New Zealand’s European inhabitants existed in uneasy and uncertain conditions. Local Maori didn’t fair too well either and by 1840, after decades dominated by the terrifying genocidal rampages of Hone Heke in which over 60,000 Maori lost their lives, something had to be done. Various tribal leaders, faced with more of the same, amalgamated to pressure the then existing British authorities to bring law and order into a society that they saw needed protecting (not only from rapacious landgrabbers and other less than honourable actions by incoming settlers) but also as a remedy to endless inter-tribal fighting, slavery and death. The resulting treaty was designed to give protection by way of common law to the inhabitants of the land from murder, robbery and the like. It was also deemed necessary to remove the office of British sovereign authority away from the isolation of the Bay of Islands and to locate it to a more central geographical location. Thus it was that the new emerging governing authorities selected Auckland as its new place of business and residence. This however, had disturbing ramifications as this removal had a knock-on effect to the economics of Nga Puhi from the Bay of Islands. Up until 1842, they had enjoyed the lucrative economic results of trading produce, grog and the prostitution of their womenfolk in exchange for esteemed items such as firearms, iron tools and various other agricultural and household equipment from the ships that made port to pay the various levies and customs duties in order to trade within New Zealand. The great number of whaling ships which had also provided a healthy revenue for Heke stopped anchoring in the Bay of Islands and by 1845, revved up by the ‘talk’ of the American-Consul Capt William Mayhew, Hone Heke attacked the settlement of the infamous ‘cesspit of the Pacific’, Kororareka, the first salvo in what became known as the Flagstaff Wars. It was enough to unsettle the Europeans of the area, who nervous of the potential for a repeat of the 1830s maniacal era of genocide and were evacuated to Auckland."

Since 1900

Here is an interesting comment from 1923 where Sir Apirana Ngata, Minister of Native Affairs, wrote a book explaining the Treaty of Waitangi and the land confiscations entitled,

“The Treaty of Waitangi - An Explanation”. This is what he said, “Some have said these confiscations were wrong and that they contravened the Treaty of Waitangi, but the chief’s placed in the hands of the Queen of England, the Sovereignty and authority to make laws. Some sections of the Maori people violated that authority, war arose and blood was spilled. The law came into operation and land was taken in payment. This in itself is Maori custom – revenge – plunder to avenge a wrong. It was their chiefs who ceded that right to the Queen. The confiscations cannot therefore be objected to in the light of the Treaty”.

Nowadays some will say that it is unfair for the taxpayers of 2016 to be paying for far distant events that occurred in 1840. Others say that the wrongs should be put right.

I agree with both sides. Why? Because as past wrongs are put right (insisted by Maori and legislated by government), then the revealing of inhabitants existing before Maori arrived will mean some more things will have to be put right in turn. It has to be acknowledged that Maori were not first and have all they have due to the killing and/or assimilation of previous inhabitants. I don't blame Maori, that was just the way of it back then, as it was in other countries over millennia. The Maori should in no way be shamed for what was cultural at the time. But they should be shamed for the present cover up.

Nonetheless, things have to be put right. Not in monetary terms - for there are no survivors to compensate...but there are a million history books to correct, and hidden artefacts to be brought out of their dusty hideaways before they are destroyed along with the new evidence, still untouched and unknown until now. And there is much more hidden elsewhere by those who know - those who are waiting for a public opening up of history as we are doing here in our small part. For what we are doing is just a small part of that which will ultimately be revealed.

So, for Maori, the treaty is safe. It was arranged with the conquerors of those we want to reveal (and others) and therefore should be honoured as an agreement with the current owners at the time of signing.

But with all our being - we will ensure the real Tangata Whenua have their day in the sun.