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The Settlements Of The Treaty Of Waitangi Essay

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The Settlements of the Treaty of Waitangi.

The treaty of Waitangi is considered to be the founding document of the English and European control and settlement in New Zealand. After the treaty’s signing in 1840 it has played a huge role in legal affairs and the treatment of both European New Zealanders and Maori New Zealanders. Though there is dispute as to the correct or incorrect translation from English to Maori and vice versa, the treaty has on the whole created a harmonious existence between the two cultures.

In 1832 after a plea for help and protection sent to the French and English by the Maori, the English sent James Busby to be the British Resident in New Zealand, which would lead to the later appointment of William Hobson as the Lieutenant Governor of New Zealand. In 1834 James Busby drafted a document known as the “Declaration of Independence of New Zealand”. This was signed by himself and 35 Northern Maori chiefs in 1835 appointing those chiefs as the representatives of a state under the name of the “United Tribes of New Zealand”. This document was not popular in the Colonial Office in England and it seemed that a corrective document was needed for New Zealand. This document ended up being the Treaty of Waitangi.

Hobsons instructions are the basis for all Waitangi Tribunal claims and settlements, the instructions were issued to him by James Stephen of the Colonial office on behalf of Queen Victoria. The instructions were as follows:
“All dealings with the

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