Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand

The Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand (He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni), signed by a number of Māori chiefs in 1835, proclaimed the sovereign independence of New Zealand prior to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840.

Background
On 28 October 1835, with James Busby, the British Resident in New Zealand, the declaration was signed by 34 northern Māori chiefs, including Tāmati Wāka Nene, Tītore, Te Wharerahi and Moka Te Kainga-mataa. Further signatures followed and by 1839, a total of 52 chiefs had signed.

In the process of signing, the chiefs established themselves as representing a confederation under the title of the "United Tribes of New Zealand". Missionaries Henry Williams and George Clarke translated the declaration and signed as witnesses. Merchants James Clendon and Gilbert Mair also signed as witnesses.

The declaration arose in response to concerns over the lawlessness of British subjects in New Zealand and in response to a fear that France would declare sovereignty over the islands. A Frenchman, Charles de Thierry, who titled himself 'Charles, Baron de Tierry, Sovereign Chief of New Zealand and King of Nuku Hiva' (in the Marquesas Islands), sought to establish a colony on a 40000 acre plot of land that he claimed to have purchased in the Hokianga.

In 1834, some chiefs selected a flag now known as the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand for use on ships originating from New Zealand.

The need for a flag of New Zealand first became clear when the merchant ship Sir George Murray, built in the Hokianga, was seized by customs officials in the port of Sydney. The ship had been sailing without a flag, a violation of British navigation laws. New Zealand was then not a colony and had no flag. The ship's detention reportedly aroused indignation among the Māori population. Unless a flag were selected, ships would continue to be seized.

The flag, amended slightly when officially gazetted, became the first distinctive flag of New Zealand. As late as 1900, it was still being used to depict New Zealand, and it appeared on the South African War Medal that was issued to New Zealand soldiers of the Second Boer War. The original version of the flag, with eight-pointed stars and black fimbriation, is still used by some Māori groups.

The declaration is displayed at the National Library of New Zealand, as part of the He Tohu exhibition, along with the Treaty of Waitangi and the 1893 Women's Suffrage Petition.

Text
The hereditary chiefs and heads of the tribes of the northern parts of New Zealand declared the constitution of an independent state. They agreed to meet in Waitangi each year to frame laws and invited the southern tribes of New Zealand to "lay aside their private animosities" and join them.

The original English text, as was drafted by James Busby and sent to the New South Wales government and the Colonial Office in Britain is as follows:

"Declaration of Independence of New Zealand

1. We, the hereditary chiefs and heads of the tribes of the Northern parts of New Zealand, being assembled at Waitangi, in the Bay of Islands, on this 28th day of October, 1835, declare the Independence of our country, which is hereby constituted and declared to be an Independent State, under the designation of The United Tribes of New Zealand.

2. All sovereign power and authority within the territories of the United Tribes of New Zealand is hereby declared to reside entirely and exclusively in the hereditary chiefs and heads of tribes in their collective capacity, who also declare that they will not permit any legislative authority separate from themselves in their collective capacity to exist, nor any function of government to be exercised within the said territories, unless by persons appointed by them, and acting under the authority of laws regularly enacted by them in Congress assembled.

3. The hereditary chiefs and heads of tribes agree to meet in Congress at Waitangi in the autumn of each year, for the purpose of framing laws for the dispensation of justice, the preservation of peace and good order, and the regulation of trade; and they cordially invite the Southern tribes to lay aside their private animosities and to consult the safety and welfare of our common country, by joining the Confederation of the United Tribes.

4. They also agree to send a copy of this Declaration to His Majesty, the King of England, to thank him for his acknowledgement of their flag; and in return for the friendship and protection they have shown, and are prepared to show, to such of his subjects as have settled in their country, or resorted to its shores for the purposes of trade, they entreat that he will continue to be the parent of their infant State, and that he will become its Protector from all attempts upon its independence.

Agreed to unanimously on this 28 day of October, 1835, in the presence of His Britannic Majesty’s Resident.

(Here follows the signatures or marks of thirty-five Hereditary chiefs or Heads of tribes, which form a fair representation of the tribes of New Zealand from the North Cape to the latitude of the River Thames.) English witnesses: (Signed) Henry Williams, Missionary, C.M.S. George Clarke, C.M.S. James R. Clendon, Merchant. Gilbert Mair, Merchant.

I certify that the above is a correct copy of the Declaration of the Chiefs, according to the translation of Missionaries who have resided ten years and upwards in the country; and it is transmitted to His Most Gracious Majesty the King of England, at the unanimous request of the chiefs.

(Signed) JAMES BUSBY, British Resident at New Zealand."

Explanation of Māori text
The Māori text of the declaration was made by the tino rangatira (hereditary chiefs) of the northern part of New Zealand, uses the term Rangatiratanga to mean independence and declares the country a whenua Rangatira (independent state) that is to be known as the United Tribes of New Zealand (Te Wakaminenga o nga Hapu o Nu Tireni).

The translation of the second paragraph is "that all sovereign power and authority in the land" ("Ko te Kingitanga ko te mana i te wenua") should "reside entirely and exclusively in the hereditary chiefs and heads of tribes in their collective capacity", expressed as the United Tribes of New Zealand.

The terms Kingitanga and mana are used in claiming sovereignty of the state to the assembly of the hereditary chiefs, and it is declared that no government (kawanatanga) would exist except by persons appointed by the assembly of hereditary chiefs.

Impact
The signatories sent a copy of the document to King William IV (who reigned from 1830 to 1837), asking him to act as the protector of the new state. The King had acknowledged the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand and now recognised the declaration in a letter from Lord Glenelg (British Secretary of State for War and the Colonies), following consideration of the declaration by the House of Lords, dated 25 May 1836.

It read, in part:

""

The declaration was not well received by the Colonial Office, and it was decided that a new policy for New Zealand was needed as a corrective.

It is notable that the Treaty of Waitangi was made between the British Crown and "the chiefs of the United Tribes of New Zealand" in recognition of their independent sovereignty.

Legal effects
Pākehā writers have dismissed the significance of He Whakaputanga as an attempt by James Busby to establish a 'settled form of government', but Māori unity movements looked to the document as the basis for Māori claims to self-determination that reaffirmed tikanga Māori and Māori concepts of power and decision-making. In 2010 the Ngāpuhi iwi (tribe) in Northland requested that the Waitangi Tribunal rule on whether the tribe had in fact relinquished sovereignty in 1840 when they signed the treaty.

Ngāpuhi Waitangi Tribunal claim (Te Paparahi o te Raki inquiry)
In 2010, the Waitangi Tribunal began hearing Ngāpuhi's claim that sovereignty was not ceded in their signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. The Tribunal, in their Te Paparahi o te Raki inquiry (Wai 1040) is in the process of considering the Māori and Crown understandings of the declaration and the treaty. That aspect of the inquiry raises issues as to the nature of sovereignty and whether the Māori signatories to the Treaty of Waitangi intended to transfer sovereignty.

The first stage of the report was released in November 2014, and found that Māori chiefs never agreed to give up their sovereignty when they signed the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. Tribunal manager Julie Tangaere said at the report's release to the Ngapuhi claimants:"'Your tupuna [ancestors] did not give away their mana at Waitangi, at Waimate, at Mangungu. They did not cede their sovereignty. This is the truth you have been waiting a long time to hear.'"

Final submissions were received in May 2018, but the second stage of the report was still in the process of being written up.