Background reading · Social Sciences

Te Tiriti o Waitangi: two texts, one agreement

What the Treaty said, why the two texts matter, and how to find out what it meant in your region.

On 6 February 1840 rangatira and representatives of the British Crown met at Waitangi. Over the following months copies of the Treaty travelled around the country and about 540 rangatira signed, most of them the te reo Māori text.

Three articles

Article 1: in the English text, chiefs gave the Queen 'sovereignty'; in te reo Māori they gave 'kāwanatanga', a word closer to governorship.

Article 2: the te reo text promised rangatira 'tino rangatiratanga', full authority, over their lands, villages and taonga. The English text spoke of 'possession' of lands and property, with the Crown having the first right to buy.

Article 3: Māori were given the rights and privileges of British subjects.

Why the differences matter

People signing different texts could reasonably understand different agreements. Many later disputes about land and authority grew from this gap. The Waitangi Tribunal, set up in 1975, hears claims that the Crown broke the Treaty's promises.

In your region

Find out where the nearest signing took place, which rangatira signed or refused, and what happened to land in the decades that followed. Ask mana whenua how the story is told locally; your teacher will help you do this respectfully.

Sources and further reading

Written for Kōkiri Learn students in our own words. Check facts against the sources.

Used in: Tō Mātou Rohe: Stories of Our Place