Te Tiriti o Waitangi
6th February 1840
(not to be mistaken for the Treaty of Waitangi, English text)
Five years after He wakaputanga announced to the world their Rangatiratanga, their autonomy, their Sovereignty, and their collective capacity, most Rangatira were then party to the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, a Covenant between Victoria, Queen of England, and the many Rangatira of the many Hapu, which formed the foundation for the working relationship between some 544 Hapu Rangatira, and Victoria, Queen of England.
Essentially, He wakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni set the lawful foundation for Te Tiriti o Waitangi, a Treaty between sovereigns. Both documents started their negotiations around the same time of 1807/8.
Te Tiriti is a Treaty which, in Article 1, granted a privilege to Victoria to establish an administrative governance, founded in Common Law and upholding Tikanga, to administer for those people not Mana Whenua.
Article 2 granted Queen Victoria a privilege to administer Titles of Usage over such land as agreed to be leased to Her by each Rangatira.
Article 3 granted to Mana Whenua the same Rights that any English people have. He wakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni, is a living document and sets the foundation for a peaceful collaboration for the betterment of all.
Fact in Law, the Rangatira and Hapu never ceded their Ancestral Right nor authority of their respective Territories, nor their Sovereignty with Te Tiriti o Waitangi. After all, logically, why would they cede their Ancestral Right to their Whenua/Rohe, their autonomy and their Sovereignty, only five years after spending 28 years defining and then Proclaiming it?
