treaty of waitangi

This is essay will begin with a disscusion on the social systems in place and the conditions of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Treaty of Waitangi signatories. It then focuses on the influences and comparisons on the signings, of the Te Tiriti and the Treaty. I will describe the Tangata Whenua and the Tangata Tiriti ideologies and apply historical examples leading up to the signings and look at values and beliefs of each Tiriti/Treaty partner. I will then discuss the changes and responses that evoked Māori after the signings of The Treaty and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Finally, I will reflect on my own personal philosophy, or ideology, of the Treaty of Waitangi and the Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Before colonisation Māori had traded with whalers, sealers, and timber and flax merchants. This brought about social and economic change for Māori with the introduction of various crops including potatoes and corn. Māori had built up a viable support system based upon close relationships with the land, forests, rivers and surrounding seas (Manu Ao Academy, n.d.). The Māori way of life pre- 1840’s was predominantly tribal, and the early European settlers incorporated some of the Māori values into their own, with some assimilating into Māori culture (Owens, 1992). Europeans felt that Māori society pre the signing of the Te Tiriti/Tiriti of Waitangi was “ homogenous, with a shared belief system, culture and language varied, with a strong tribal identity based on kinship” (Orange, 1987, p.7). One of the reasons Māori signed the Treaty of Waitangi was to protect themselves because of mounting interest by Europeans who wanted to settle in New Zealand. For the Europeans, the added advantage of having the use of natural resources on hand made New Zealand an attractive proposition (Hayward, 2010, p.155). In contrast to the Māori understanding of Te Tiriti, The Crown’s or in this case Hobson’s, purpose was to “proclaim sovereignty over the country and bring it into the family of nations

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