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Speaker 1: Hi um eves. Welcome to This Day in History Class,

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Speaker 1: a show that reveals a little bit more about history

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Speaker 1: day by day. Today is February six. The day was

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Speaker 1: February sixty. Representatives of the British Crown and more than

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Speaker 1: forty Maori chiefs or rangatira signed the Treaty of Waitangi

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Speaker 1: on this day at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands

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Speaker 1: on the North Island of New Zealand. The treaty was

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Speaker 1: supposed to be in agreement that established Britain sovereignty over

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Speaker 1: New Zealand, ensured protection of Maori lands and other possessions.

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Speaker 1: Said the Queen had the sole right to purchase land

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Speaker 1: and gave Maori the rights of British subjects. But even

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Speaker 1: though the document was meant to protect the interests of

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Speaker 1: the Maori and the British Crown, differences in language and

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Speaker 1: culture caused a lot of confusion over the meaning of

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Speaker 1: the treaty. Europeans had been in contact with the Maori

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Speaker 1: since the seventeenth century. By the eighteenth century, Europeans were

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Speaker 1: immigrating to New Zealand and trade was good. Europeans exchanged guns, clothing,

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Speaker 1: and other trade goods for food, and other natural resources

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Speaker 1: the Maori had access to. European missionaries also came to

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Speaker 1: the islands, and many Maori even converted to Christianity and

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Speaker 1: came to respect the missionaries. But New Zealand was not

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Speaker 1: a British territory, so British law did not govern the

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Speaker 1: British subjects living in the country, including the con Vix

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Speaker 1: that had come to New Zealand from New South Wales.

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Speaker 1: So over time the region became pretty unstable because of

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Speaker 1: violence and disease. When the Maori feared a potential French

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Speaker 1: invasion in eighteen thirty one, several Marory chiefs acted King

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Speaker 1: William the Fourth of the United Kingdom to help protect

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Speaker 1: their land. So the Colonial Office in London, the government

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Speaker 1: body that managed Britain's colonies, sent James Busby to the

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Speaker 1: proverbial rescue. Busbee was appointed the so called British Resident

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Speaker 1: in New Zealand and in eighteen thirty three. He arrived

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Speaker 1: in the country with the intent to look after the

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Speaker 1: Maori and Europeans living on the islands. Bust Be drafted

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Speaker 1: up a declaration of independence for New Zealand in eighteen

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Speaker 1: thirty four, mainly to keep other nations from staking a

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Speaker 1: claim to New Zealand. Many Mary chief later signed the declaration,

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Speaker 1: but it didn't go over too well with the Colonial Office,

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Speaker 1: and Busby wasn't even able to carry out his duties

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Speaker 1: fully because he didn't have a police force or any

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Speaker 1: support from the British government. Maori tribal wars had broken out,

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Speaker 1: lawlessness from immigrants and adventurers was still an issue, and

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Speaker 1: the New Zealand Company was aggressively attempting to grab as

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Speaker 1: much land as possible in New Zealand. The Europeans and

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Speaker 1: Mary alike wanted to put an end to all the disorder,

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Speaker 1: but Britain recognized New Zealand as independent under Mary rule,

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Speaker 1: so after years of being disinterested in annexing New Zealand,

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Speaker 1: Britain sent Royal Navy officer William Hobson to New Zealand

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Speaker 1: to negotiate a treaty with the Mary in eighteen thirty nine.

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Speaker 1: Hobson was set to become Lieutenant Governor of New Zealand

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Speaker 1: or any parts of New Zealand the Maori agreed to

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Speaker 1: give up. Hopson arrived at Waitangi in January of eighteen forty.

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Speaker 1: Buzby helped Hopson draft the treaty, and the treaty was

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Speaker 1: translated into the Maori language, but there was a problem.

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Speaker 1: Some English words and concepts did not have equivalence in Maori,

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Speaker 1: so at the last minute the translators had to make

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Speaker 1: up new Maori words, like the word kama natanga, which

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Speaker 1: means governorship. This hasty translation would go on to cause

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Speaker 1: disagreement over how the Mary interpreted the treaty and whether

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Speaker 1: the treaty really transferred sovereignty to the British crown. On

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Speaker 1: February five, the Europeans and Maori met and the treaties

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Speaker 1: were read aloud. The Maori discussed the proposal into the night. Missionaries,

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Speaker 1: who thought the deal would be good for the Maori people,

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Speaker 1: encouraged the Mary to agree to the treaty, and though

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Speaker 1: many Marory chiefs objected to the treaty, several chiefs stepped

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Speaker 1: up in support of British rule. The next morning, hone

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Speaker 1: heck A was the first of dozens of chiefs to

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Speaker 1: sign the treaty. A missionary named William Colenso did interject

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Speaker 1: at the signing to ask if the Maory really understood

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Speaker 1: what they were signing, and he later wrote his own

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Speaker 1: account of the signing, but over the next several months,

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Speaker 1: more copies of the treaty were sent around the country

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Speaker 1: for others to sign. Even though many mayory chiefs refused

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Speaker 1: to sign the treaty, Hopson still took the title of

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Speaker 1: Lieutenant Governor of all of New Zealand, and soon after

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Speaker 1: New Zealand became a Crown colony. But it didn't take

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Speaker 1: long for things to start going wrong. Europeans flooded into

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Speaker 1: the country, Britain failed to protect Maory land and possessions,

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Speaker 1: Intentions over unfair land purchases, and sketchy legislation became violent.

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Speaker 1: The treaty was never ratified by Britain, and the government

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Speaker 1: often completely ignored the terms of the treaty. Anyway, the

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Speaker 1: Maori ended up losing a lot of their land. By

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Speaker 1: the nineteen hundreds, the mary began fighting to secure their

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Speaker 1: treaty rights and protesting the British government's violations of the treaty,

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Speaker 1: and in nineteen seventy five the government finally recognized the

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Speaker 1: Treaty of Waitangi and New Zealand law. Some treaty claims

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Speaker 1: did reach settlements, but today the treaty is still not

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Speaker 1: part of New Zealand municipal law, and the debate over

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Speaker 1: the true meaning of the Treaty of Waitangi continues. I'm

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Speaker 1: Eves Jeff Coote and hopefully you know a little more

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Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. If you'd like

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Speaker 1: to learn more about the Treaty of White Tangi, you

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Speaker 1: can listen to the episode of Stuff you missed in

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Speaker 1: History class called the Treaty of White Tangi. You can

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Speaker 1: subscribe to this Day in History class on Apple Podcasts,

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Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Speaker 1: Come back tomorrow for another tidbit from history.