The Treaty of Waitangi, 1840

This is the reason I think the Maori Culture  is valued far more in New Zealand in comparison  to the status of the Aborigine in Australia.

In January 1840 Captain William Hobson arrived in the Bay of Islands to make a treaty with the Maori Chiefs on behalf of the British government.

Busby helped revise Hobson's draft and the Rev. Henry Williams and his son, Edward,  translated it into Maori.  He included the important promise that Britain would guarantee Maori possession of their lands, their forests and their fisheries. Without this he was sure the chiefs would not sign. On 5 February 1840 hundreds of Maori and scores of Europeans gathered in front of the residency at Waitangi. The Treaty was read and explained  in English and Maori. The chiefs debated all day at Waitangi and into the night at Te Tii, across the river.

On 6 February  43 chiefs signed the treaty in front of the Residency at Waitangi. The site of the signing is marked by the flagstaff.

Copies of the Treaty were  then carried around the country. By September 1840 over 500 chiefs had signed it. Hobson proclaimed British Sovereignty over  the whole country on 21 May 1840.

Though debate continues over the interpretation of its parts, the Treaty is best understood as a whole.  It is an agreement between two peoples to live and work together in one nation. This agreement is as relevant today as in 1840, for it guarantees the rights of both Maori and non-Maori citizens in Aotorea New Zealand.