Waitangi Day 6 Feb 2024 7:57 AM:
A Ngāpuhi kaumātua says He Whakaputanga needs to be elevated in the national conscious as the "matua", the parent of The Treaty.
He Whakaputanga - known in English as the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand - was signed in 1835 around 50 rangatira, mostly of Ngāpuhi.
Hone Sadler says it laid the groundwork for the Treaty because it declared that sovereign power in New Zealand resided fully with Māori.
"If that covenant, that document wasn't signed we would never have had a Treaty because a Treaty can only be signed between apparently sovereign nations."
Kimberley Rose Yes if there was no Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand then NZ would most likely have been colonised like Australia. Colonialists don't want to recognise or understand that many nations could be on one land. The First Nations people of Australia have boundaries from one area to another, this continent therefore contains many different nations. For an appropriate treaty in Australia it would mean a treaty with each nation, not just one treaty. New Zealand uniting gave them much more power collectively.