45 Human Rights Commission Chapter 2: Ka Takahi Treaty making and treaty breaking This chapter describes the significance of He Whakaputanga o Te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni |The Declaration of Independence (He Whakaputanga) and outlines the signing of the two versions of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the te reo Māori (Te Tiriti) and English (the Treaty) versions, and how decades of unjust legislation and war undermined Māori self-determination leading to political marginalisation, the alienation of Māori land, and intergenerational impoverishment and racism. Aotearoa’s foundational constitutional documents He Whakaputanga o Te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni - The Declaration of Independence (1835) of purpose and detail. Consultation with Māori is little more than lip service (Peace and Spoonley, 2019, p. 100). Promises are frequently unfulfilled. Fifty-two rangatira signed He Whakaputanga in 1835, formally asserting the mana and authority of indigenous Māori peoples in Aotearoa. Power resided with Māori and foreigners would not be allowed to make laws (Archives New Zealand, 2021). He Whakaputanga is the foundational constitutional document articulating collective iwi and hapū identity, grounded upon independence (Independent Working Group on Constitutional Transformation, 2018, p. 44). Te Tiriti o Waitangi (1840) He Whakaputanga was a “unilateral declaration” of fact that asserted rangatira independence and sovereign authority (Waitangi Tribunal, 2014, p. 198). Busby, significantly involved in the drafting, wanted rangatira to forfeit their “authority” to an annual assembly at Waitangi. This, however, would be tantamount to signing away their mana, an unacceptable and culturally nonsensical request. In practice, Busby was trying “to establish a Māori legislature… to do his bidding [at an executive level]” (Waitangi Tribunal, 2014, p. 200), undermining the intent of what rangatira thought He Whakaputanga was articulating. In this way, the British were already attempting to subvert Māori authority and self-determination. The duplicity played out in the signing of He Whakaputanga continues today. The government seldom states its true intentions, there are omissions At the time of signing Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Māori were trading and providing goods for settler society as well as overseas economies (Petrie, 2006; Reid et al, 2017, p. 34). Māori were eager to continue trade and ensure a measure of control over the settlers who were becoming increasingly unruly, lawless, and disorderly. They were also starting to arrive in Aotearoa in larger numbers. Captain William Hobson was dispatched to New Zealand and Te Tiriti and The Treaty was signed on 6 February 1840 (Orange, 2012). An English and te reo Māori version were drafted, with more than 500 rangatira signing the Māori version. In a speech delivered before signing, the Crown’s representative, Captain William Hobson, emphasised that the Crown needed to exercise control over its British subjects. While articulating a partnership between Māori and the Crown, the two texts say fundamentally different things. Article One of te reo version gave the Queen governance over the settlers (kāwanatanga), and guaranteed Māori full authority over their lands, forests, fisheries, estates and taonga (rangatiratanga). While its English counterpart gave the Queen “all the rights and powers of sovereignty” (Orange, 2012).