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He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni
The Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand

He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni – e mōhiotia ana ki te reo Ingarihi ko te Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand – he tuhinga turepapa tēnei, otirā he hiranga tuku iho, he hiranga ahurea.

He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni – known in English as the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand – is a constitutional document of historical and cultural significance.

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I waitohua tuatahitia e ngā rangatira Māori 34 o te raki, i te 28 o Ōketopa 1835, ka mutu ka haere tonu ngā kohinga waitohu mō He Whakaputanga, otirā 18 atu anō ngā waitohu i kohia i mua o te 1839. Ka uru ki ēnei ko Te Hāpuku o Te Matau-a-Māui me te ariki o Waikato a Te Wherowhero, otirā nō muri mai ka ara a ia hei Kīngi Māori tuatahi. Nā te kawenata nei o He Whakaputanga, ka whakaū ēnei rangatira 52 i a Aotearoa hei whenua Māori motuhake, otirā ko te mana i te Māori kē e pupuri ana, ā, kāore e whakaaetia ngā rāwāho ki te hanga ture.

E ai ki te Kirihono Matua o Peretānia a James Busby, koinei te "Magna Carta of New Zealand Independence", otirā he whakaputanga whakaniwha, whanokē hoki o te mana motuhake taketake. I ōkawa te tūtohu a Peretānia ki te mana o tēnei, ā, ka tohu i te aranga o te mana Māori ki te ao. Koinei tētahi o ngā whakahau tōmua rawa o te tuakiri Māori i waho ake o ngā iwi me ngā hapū.

Ko te whakapākehātanga pea o He Whakaputanga ko "an emergence". E whā nga wāhanga o tēnei kawenata. I whakaū i te mana motuhake o Nu Tireni (Aotearoa) i raro i te mana o "Te Wakaminenga o ngā Hapū o Nu Tireni." Ko te mana tino rangatiratanga me te mana katoa i te whenua ("Ko te Kingitanga ko te mana i te w[h]enua") i puritia e ngā rangatira "i tō mātou huihuinga". I whakaae ngā rangatira kia hui i ia tau ki Waitangi ki te whakatau ture. Nā ko te utu o te "atawhai me te tiaki" ka whakaaturia e te Māori ki ngā Pākehā i Aotearoa, ka tono ngā rangatira ki a Kīngi Wiremu IV "kia waiho hei matua mō mātou i tō mātou tamarikitanga", ā, "kei wakakahoretia to matou rangatiratanga."

He mea tuhi te mea hukihuki reo Ingarihi e James Busby, ā, ka whakamāoritia e te mihinare nei e Henry Williams (otirā e mau ana i Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwantanga tētahi tuhinga nā Williams.). Ka oti i a Eruera Pare Hongi, he whanaunga nō Hongi Hika, te tuhi i te mea whakamutunga ki te reo Māori, otirā koinei te mea i waitohua (ko ia "te kai tuhituhi", "the scribe" rānei i runga i te tuhinga). I te tau 1836, ono tekau ngā tārua o He Whakaputanga i tāia e William Colenso mā te perehi a te Rōpū Hāhi Mihinare i Paihia. Ko ēnei tārua i whakamahia hei whakatau i te tutūnga puehu i waenga i ngā mihinare me ngā kaihokohoko i Hokianga. I te Āperira 1837 ka tāia e Colenso tētahi putanga tuarua o te kotahi rau tārua. Hei tohu i te hiranga o He Whakaputanga, ka tāia ki te Rēhita Pūmahara o te Ao a UNESCO i te 2015.

Mai i te 2017, kua noho tahi a He Whakaputanga ki Te Tiriti o Waitangi me te Petihana Mana Pōti Wāhine 1893 ki tētahi whakaaturanga i Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa. Nā te whakaaturanga nei i tino hiki te rongonui o He Whakaputanga me tōna hiranga ā-turepapa.

First signed by 34 Northern Māori rangatira (chiefs) on 28 October 1835, He Whakaputanga collected a further 18 signatures by 1839. This included Te Hāpuku of Hawkes Bay, and the Waikato leader Te Wherowhero, who later became the first Māori King. Through He Whakaputanga, these 52 rangatira asserted that Aotearoa New Zealand was an independent Māori state, that power resided fully with Māori, and that foreigners would not be allowed to make laws.

Described by British Resident James Busby as the "Magna Carta of New Zealand Independence", He Whakaputanga was a bold and innovative declaration of Indigenous power. Officially recognised by the United Kingdom, it signalled the emergence of Māori authority on the world stage. It was also one of the earliest assertions of Māori identity beyond separate iwi and hapū.

He Whakaputanga can be translated as "an emergence". The document itself consisted of four articles. It asserted the independence of Nu Tireni (Aotearoa New Zealand) under the rule of the "United Tribes of New Zealand". All sovereign power and authority in the land ("Ko te Kingitanga ko te mana i te w[h]enua") resided with the chiefs "in their collective capacity". The chiefs present agreed to meet annually at Waitangi to make laws. In return for the "friendship and protection" that Māori were to give British subjects in New Zealand, the chiefs asked King William IV "to continue to be the parent [matua] of their infant State", and requested he "become its Protector from all attempts upon its independence".

The English draft of the document was written by James Busby, and was translated into Māori by the missionary Henry Williams (a draft in William’s handwriting is held at Archives New Zealand). Eruera Pare Hongi, a relation of Hongi Hika, wrote the final copy in Māori, which was the version that was signed (he is noted as "te kai tuhituhi" or "the scribe" on the document). In 1836, sixty copies of He Whakaputanga were produced by William Colenso on the Church Missionary Society press at Paihia. These copies were used to diffuse a flare-up between missionaries and traders in the Hokianga. In April 1837 Colenso printed a second edition of one hundred copies.

In recognition of its significance, He Whakaputanga was inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World New Zealand Register in 2015.

Since 2017, He Whakaputanga has sat alongside Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petition in an exhibition at the National Library of New Zealand. This exhibition has considerably raised the profile of He Whakaputanga and its constitutional significance.

Ko ngā kōrero kei runga i te tuhinga: ko te Tuhinga Reo Māori taketake me te whakapākehātanga
What the document says: original Te Reo version and English translation

He Wakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni

  1. Ko matou ko nga Tino Rangatira o nga iwi o Nu Tireni i raro mai o Hauraki kua oti nei te huihui i Waitangi i Tokerau 28 o Oketopa 1835. ka wakaputa i te Rangatiratanga o to matou wenua a ka meatia ka wakaputaia e matou he Wenua Rangatira. kia huaina ‘Ko te Wakaminenga o nga Hapu o Nu Tireni’.

  2. Ko te Kingitanga ko te mana i te wenua o te wakaminenga o Nu Tireni ka meatia nei kei nga Tino Rangatira anake i to matou huihuinga. a ka mea hoki e kore e tukua e matou te wakarite ture ki te tahi hunga ke atu, me te tahi Kawanatanga hoki kia meatia i te wenua o te wakaminenga o Nu Tireni. ko nga tangata anake e meatia nei e matou e wakarite ana ki te ritenga o o matou ture e meatia nei e matou i to matou huihuinga.

  3. Ko matou ko nga Tino Rangatira ke mea nei kia huihui ki te runanga ki Waitangi a te Ngahuru i tenei tau i tenei tau ki te wakarite ture kia tika ai te wakawakanga kia mau pu te rongo kia mutu te he kia tika te hokohoko. a ka mea hoki ki nga Tauiwi o runga kia wakarerea te wawai. kia mahara ai ki te wakaoranga o to matou wenua. a kia uru ratou ki te wakaminenga o Nu Tireni.

  4. Ka mea matou kia tuhituhia he pukapuka ki te ritenga o tenei o to matou wakaputanga nei ki te Kingi o Ingarani hei kawe atu i to matou aroha. nana hoki i wakaae ki te Kara mo matou. a no te mea ka atawai matou, ka tiaki i nga pakeha e noho nei i uta e rere mai ana ki te hokohoko, koia ka mea ai matou ki te Kingi kia waiho hei matua ki a matou i to matou Tamarikitanga kei wakakahoretia to matou Rangatiratanga.

Kua wakaetia katoatia e matou i tenei ra i te 28 o opketopa 1835 ki te aroaro o te Reireneti o te Kingi o Ingarani.

The Codicil

Ko matou ko nga Rangatira ahakoa kihai i tae ki te huihuinga nei no te nuinga o te Waipuke no te aha ranei – ka wakaae katoa ki te waka putanga Rangatiratanga o Nu Tirene a ka uru ki roto ki te Wakaminenga.

A translation by Dr Mānuka Hēnare

He Wakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni

  1. We, the absolute leaders of the tribes (iwi) of New Zealand (Nu Tireni) to the north of Hauraki (Thames) having assembled in the Bay of Islands (Tokerau) on 28th October 1835. [We] declare the authority and leadership of our country and say and declare them to be prosperous economy and chiefly country (Wenua Rangatira) under the title of ‘Te Wakaminenga o ngā Hapū o Nu Tireni’ (The sacred Confederation of Tribes of New Zealand).

  2. The sovereignty/kingship (Kīngitanga) and the mana from the land of the Confederation of New Zealand are here declared to belong solely to the true leaders (Tino Rangatira) of our gathering, and we also declare that we will not allow (tukua) any other group to frame laws (wakarite ture), nor any Governorship (Kawanatanga) to be established in the lands of the Confederation, unless (by persons) appointed by us to carry out (wakarite) the laws (ture) we have enacted in our assembly (huihuinga).

  3. We, the true leaders have agreed to meet in a formal gathering (rūnanga) at Waitangi in the autumn (Ngahuru) of each year to enact laws (wakarite ture) that justice may be done (kia tika ai te wakawakanga), so that peace may prevail and wrong-doing cease and trade (hokohoko) be fair. [We] invite the southern tribes to set aside their animosities, consider the well-being of our land and enter into the sacred Confederation of New Zealand.

  4. We agree that a copy of our declaration should be written and sent to the King of England to express our appreciation (aroha) for this approval of our flag. And because we are showing friendship and care for the Pākehā who live on our shores, who have come here to trade (hokohoko), we ask the King to remain as a protector (matua) for us in our inexperienced statehood (tamarikitanga), lest our authority and leadership be ended (kei whakakahoretia tō mātou Rangatiratanga).

The Codicil

We are the rangatira who, although we did not attend the meeting due to the widespread flooding or other reasons, fully agree with He Whakaputanga Rangatiratanga o Nu Tirene and join the sacred Confederation.

Tirohia ā-tuihonotia
View online

He Whakaputanga Sheet 1

He Whakaputanga Sheet 2

He Whakaputanga Sheet 3

Draft of He Whakaputanga [1 of 2]

Draft of He Whakaputanga [2 of 2]

Printed version of He Whakaputanga, 1837