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T.W Ratana
A disrespectful journey
Treaty treasured after years of neglect
By Keith Newman
The master copies of the Treaty of Waitangi, evidence of the foundational arrangement entered into by Maori chiefs and the Crown, were treated with such flippant disregard by successive New Zealand governments they were nearly lost forever.
Currently Te Tiriti o Waitangi is housed in purpose built facilities at the National Library on Molesworth St, Wellington as part of the He Tohu permanent display where it can be viewed under a low light by pushing a button.
The previous display at Archives NZ was built in 1989 and had become outdated, so the 1840 Treaty document along with the 1835 He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni (Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand) and the 1893 Te Petihana Whakamana Poti Wahine (The Women's Suffrage Petition) were moved overnight on April 21 2017.
This 200 metre move was overseen by the Department of Internal Affairs and He Tohu tikanga group of Wellington mana whenua, Ngapuhi-nui-tonu, ‘the spiritual guardians’ of the declaration and the Treaty.
The street was lined with security guards as the group sang a waiata as the light sensitive documents, also vulnerable to vibration and humidity, were carefully carried by a team of trained staff to their new home.
The Treaty of Waitangi was signed at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands on 6 February 1840 by Captain William Hobson, several English residents and about 45 Maori chiefs. It was then taken to other Northland locations for further Maori signatures.
The Church Missionary Society press at Paihia printed seven copies of the Waitangi document to be sent around the rest of the country, including the South Island. In the end over 540 chiefs, including 13 women, from 39 areas of the country, had signed, many using their personal mark or moko or signing in their own blood. Some chiefs refused.
Rescued from fire
A year after the treaty was signed, the documents were rescued from a fire at the government offices in Official Bay, Auckland. The government’s records clerk, George Elliot, snatched the iron box from the weatherboard cottage before it went up in flames. After this the treaty documents disappeared from sight until 1865 when William Baker of the Native Department, at the request of Parliament, retrieved them from a safe in Auckland to produce ‘a rather erroneous list of signatories’.
In 1869 the Legislative Council asked for a reproduction of all the treaty documents and the rough draft to be ‘laid on the table’. It was, however, reported that the draft was not on record either at the Native Department or in the Colonial Secretary’s Office.
After the draft mysteriously turned up seven years later, seven copies of the eight handwritten pages of the treaty text and translation were eventually published. The originals were then put into storage at the Colonial Secretary’s office in Wellington.
It was 30 years before the actual treaty documents were rediscovered in the basement of Government Buildings in Wellington in 1908. This historic document, along with the HMS Herald copies which contained the signatures gathered from South Island and other tribes, had been badly neglected, nibbled at by rats and insects and water damaged.
They were sent to the Director of the Dominion Museum for restoration. The original sheets were glued on to new canvas, and with the aid of the 1877 facsimiles the portions that had been damaged by rats were reproduced.
Kingitanga copies
In 1913 the documents were placed in ‘a specially made tin cylinder’ kept in the strong-room of the Department of Internal Affairs in the old Government Buildings. As in any treaty or legal agreement both parties get a copy. One of those copies was held by the group of Northland chiefs who signed the Declaration of Independence who became the first signatories of the treaty.
This Maori version found its way to the King movement Parliament headed by Tupu Taingakawa and was handed to T.W. Ratana, who made his own copies and carried it with him, as part of his efforts to gather signatures and have the treaty brought into law.
The original Treaty of Waitangi documents were on display to the New Zealand public for the first time in 1940 at Waitangi during the Centennial celebrations. However, the following year the Privy Council confirmed the conventional approach, “that it was of no legal effect, except to the extent it was expressly incorporated in domestic New Zealand law by deliberate act of Parliament”.
The documents, however, remained artefacts of curiosity and controversy and were on display again in 1949 at the Alexander Turnbull Library. A further display at the library was allowed until the National Archives completed its own exhibition room. However, conservators found the cloth backing was damaging the documents. They removed this before returning them to the National Archives in 1978, where further repairs were carried out.
In 1981 a sealed package containing the Treaty of Waitangi was deposited in the safe of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand by National Archives. In 1990, the Constitution Room at the new National Archives headquarters finally provided the conditions suitable for the permanent display of the treaty and other important constitutional documents. The Treaty of Waitangi was returned to the display case in the Constitution Room at Archives New Zealand in 1991.
The plan to rehouse the Treaty was announced in 2012 and by 2013, $2.3 million had already been spent on the project, resulting in widespread criticism of the cost overrun. It’s hoped the new light controlled home for the Treaty and its companion documents will keep them save for many years to come.
Sources:
Claudia Orange, citing Reed, Gift of Waitangi, chapter 10
http://www.archives.govt.nz/exhibitions/permanentexhibitions/treaty.html
Keith Newman, Ratana Revisited, (Reed) 2006, pp. 114-15.
Treaty of Waitangi moved to new Wellington home under cover of darkness, April 22, 2017, Stuff
Treaty treasured after years of neglect
By Keith Newman
The master copies of the Treaty of Waitangi, evidence of the foundational arrangement entered into by Maori chiefs and the Crown, were treated with such flippant disregard by successive New Zealand governments they were nearly lost forever.
Currently Te Tiriti o Waitangi is housed in purpose built facilities at the National Library on Molesworth St, Wellington as part of the He Tohu permanent display where it can be viewed under a low light by pushing a button.
The previous display at Archives NZ was built in 1989 and had become outdated, so the 1840 Treaty document along with the 1835 He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni (Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand) and the 1893 Te Petihana Whakamana Poti Wahine (The Women's Suffrage Petition) were moved overnight on April 21 2017.
This 200 metre move was overseen by the Department of Internal Affairs and He Tohu tikanga group of Wellington mana whenua, Ngapuhi-nui-tonu, ‘the spiritual guardians’ of the declaration and the Treaty.
The street was lined with security guards as the group sang a waiata as the light sensitive documents, also vulnerable to vibration and humidity, were carefully carried by a team of trained staff to their new home.
The Treaty of Waitangi was signed at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands on 6 February 1840 by Captain William Hobson, several English residents and about 45 Maori chiefs. It was then taken to other Northland locations for further Maori signatures.
The Church Missionary Society press at Paihia printed seven copies of the Waitangi document to be sent around the rest of the country, including the South Island. In the end over 540 chiefs, including 13 women, from 39 areas of the country, had signed, many using their personal mark or moko or signing in their own blood. Some chiefs refused.
Rescued from fire
A year after the treaty was signed, the documents were rescued from a fire at the government offices in Official Bay, Auckland. The government’s records clerk, George Elliot, snatched the iron box from the weatherboard cottage before it went up in flames. After this the treaty documents disappeared from sight until 1865 when William Baker of the Native Department, at the request of Parliament, retrieved them from a safe in Auckland to produce ‘a rather erroneous list of signatories’.
In 1869 the Legislative Council asked for a reproduction of all the treaty documents and the rough draft to be ‘laid on the table’. It was, however, reported that the draft was not on record either at the Native Department or in the Colonial Secretary’s Office.
After the draft mysteriously turned up seven years later, seven copies of the eight handwritten pages of the treaty text and translation were eventually published. The originals were then put into storage at the Colonial Secretary’s office in Wellington.
It was 30 years before the actual treaty documents were rediscovered in the basement of Government Buildings in Wellington in 1908. This historic document, along with the HMS Herald copies which contained the signatures gathered from South Island and other tribes, had been badly neglected, nibbled at by rats and insects and water damaged.
They were sent to the Director of the Dominion Museum for restoration. The original sheets were glued on to new canvas, and with the aid of the 1877 facsimiles the portions that had been damaged by rats were reproduced.
Kingitanga copies
In 1913 the documents were placed in ‘a specially made tin cylinder’ kept in the strong-room of the Department of Internal Affairs in the old Government Buildings. As in any treaty or legal agreement both parties get a copy. One of those copies was held by the group of Northland chiefs who signed the Declaration of Independence who became the first signatories of the treaty.
This Maori version found its way to the King movement Parliament headed by Tupu Taingakawa and was handed to T.W. Ratana, who made his own copies and carried it with him, as part of his efforts to gather signatures and have the treaty brought into law.
The original Treaty of Waitangi documents were on display to the New Zealand public for the first time in 1940 at Waitangi during the Centennial celebrations. However, the following year the Privy Council confirmed the conventional approach, “that it was of no legal effect, except to the extent it was expressly incorporated in domestic New Zealand law by deliberate act of Parliament”.
The documents, however, remained artefacts of curiosity and controversy and were on display again in 1949 at the Alexander Turnbull Library. A further display at the library was allowed until the National Archives completed its own exhibition room. However, conservators found the cloth backing was damaging the documents. They removed this before returning them to the National Archives in 1978, where further repairs were carried out.
In 1981 a sealed package containing the Treaty of Waitangi was deposited in the safe of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand by National Archives. In 1990, the Constitution Room at the new National Archives headquarters finally provided the conditions suitable for the permanent display of the treaty and other important constitutional documents. The Treaty of Waitangi was returned to the display case in the Constitution Room at Archives New Zealand in 1991.
The plan to rehouse the Treaty was announced in 2012 and by 2013, $2.3 million had already been spent on the project, resulting in widespread criticism of the cost overrun. It’s hoped the new light controlled home for the Treaty and its companion documents will keep them save for many years to come.
Sources:
Claudia Orange, citing Reed, Gift of Waitangi, chapter 10
http://www.archives.govt.nz/exhibitions/permanentexhibitions/treaty.html
Keith Newman, Ratana Revisited, (Reed) 2006, pp. 114-15.
Treaty of Waitangi moved to new Wellington home under cover of darkness, April 22, 2017, Stuff
