Brief Te Tiriti o Waitangi Timeline

Māori + European (early whalers & sealers) - pattern of contact established. [Māori popl. > Pākeha popl.]

Māori + European (early whalers & sealers) - pattern of contact established. [Māori popl. > Pākeha popl.]

C1800

Marsden’s Mission - Revd. Samuel Marsden = one of the first missionaries in NZ

1814

Māori Chiefs petition British Govt. for protection against lawlessness by sailors, escaped convicts and adventurers

1831

James Busby appointed official Resident (junior consular representative) to protect Māori, growing no. of British settlers & own trade interest.

1832

Declaration of Independence written in response to perceived threat of French annexation

1835

Concern over Māori welfare; European settlers = harmful effects to Maori. Missionaries intervened to discourage land sales.

1835-1840

British colony established to ensure land transactions that defrauded Māori were stopped.

1837

Landsharking peaks; purchases raced to buy as much land as they could

1838-1839

William Hobson as Consul

1839

Hobson and Governor Gipps proclaim Land Purchase prohibitions of private Māori land

1840

Treaty of Waitangi signed; ~500 Māori, & 200 Pākeha.

6th February 1840

Hobson proclaimed sovereignty over NZ

21st May 1840

Chief Protector of Aborigines appointed

1841

Commission investigates pre-Treaty land purchases by Europeans. If purchase made in good faith, purchase = validated & given Crown Grant of 2560 acres. If purchase = invalid or >2560 acres, land become Crown land, NOT returned to Māori

1842 (Land purchases)

Māori deemed under Crown authority (note: this goes against the Māori translation of Te Tiriti o Waitangi)

1842 (Crown Authority)

Wairau Incident - settlers in the NZ Company town of Nelson wanted to expand into Wairau Valley but Chiefs denied claim that the land was sold to the NZ Company. Battle → 22 Europeans killed

1843

Northern War, aka ‘Hōne Heke’s Rebellion’ or ‘Flagstaff War‘; fighting between two factions of Ngāpuhi as well as clashes with British forces; govt. new rules & regulations cost Māori in the Bay of Islands trade & other economic opportunities - deprived Māori of sources of revenue

1844

“Surplus“ land taken - British Govt. instructed all Māori land to be registered; any land unused will = Crown land. Crown agents developed many methods to persuade Māori to sell land.

1846

NZ First Parliamentary system; Māori not included & only Māori with registered land could vote

The Constitution Act 1852

First Māori King chosen

1858

War in Taranaki - started over internal tribal conflict (tribe split into two stances) between selling or not selling the Waitara block as well as external conflict (tribe vs Crown)

March 1860

Kohimārama conference

1860 (conference)

Māori affairs shift to Govt.

1862

NZ Settlements Act - Authorised taking of land from Māori.

1863

Waikato War - could be seen as the defining moment in NZ history esp. with relations between Māori and Pākeha

1863-65

Colonial self-reliance

1864

Land confiscations - five districts proclaimed to be under the Act: Taranaki, Waikato, Tauranga, Eastern Bay of Plenty, and Mōhaka-Waikare [~1.5 million acres]

December 1864

Native Land Court established - Determine ownership of land

1865

Gave Māori the rights of natural-born British subjects. Allowed to sue and be sued in Supreme Court

The Native Rights Act 1865

Created four Māori seats in parliament (note: only nominal power obtained and only for Māori men. Number of seats for Māori = disproportionate)

Māori Representation Act 1867

Funds for schools in Māori villages. Taught English and other subjects with the intention of assimilation into Pākeha lifestyle.

The Native Schools Act 1867

Continued system of salaried Māori Assessors & police; allowed bicultural application of law in rural areas

Resident Magistrates Act 1867

Te Kooti imprisoned without trial; government tended to treat Māori captured in battle as prisoners of war

1865

Titokowaru resists land confiscation in south Taranaki

1868

First Māori members of parliament & adult Māori men were given universal suffrage (11 years before Pākeha men)

1868

Fragmentation of Māori land ownership, cause great difficulties for Māori

1873

Treaty of Waitangi judged legal nullity

1877

Major meetings on the Treaty to bring it back into prominence

1879

Parihaka occupied by force [Parihaka has since been seen as a symbol of Māori resistance]

1881

King Tawhiao makes peace → End of NZ Wars

1882

Māori deputations to the Queen to seek redress

1882 (Queen)

Investigation of Māori Land and laws surrounding administration of Māori land. [Māori had virtually no land in S. Island & <40% in N. Island]

1891

Establishment of Māori Parliament - Kohitanga

1892

Ratana Movement - religious movement. Joined with Labour party and won all four Māori seats in Parliament → stronger voice

1918

Royal Commission on Land Confiscations - set up time frame for compensations for some confiscations found to be excessive

1926

Māori land development schemes set up by Sir Apirana Ngata (Native Minister)

1929

First celebration of Waitangi Day

1934

Ngāi Tahu settlement - £10,000/annum for 30 yrs; Waikato-Maniapoto settlement - £6,000/annum; Taranaki settlement - £6,000/annum for 50 years, then £5,000/annum after that

1944

Māori Affairs Act - governing legislation for Māori land for 40 years; measure designed to force unproductive Māori land into use

1953

NZ Māori Council established

1962

Protest over Māori Affairs Amendment Act (conversion of Māori ‘freehold‘ land w/ <4 owners = general land); protest in fear of further land alienation

1967

Māori Land March - Whine Cooper’s Māori land hīkoi marched from Te Ika-a-Māui, Cape Reinga, to Wellington, to publicise concerns over unceasing disposal of Māori land in Crown hands

14th September 1975

Waitangi Tribunal established - ongoing commission of inquiry to hear grievances against Crown [note: few claims were actually investigated]

1945

Bastion Point occupation - protest high-value housing development on former Ngāti Whātua reserve land.

1977

Raglan Golf Course protest - Land taken during WW2 returned to Tainui Awhiro people after long dispute & protest, but with part of it turned into golf course

1981

Crown allows claims back to 1840

1985 (claims)

Waitangi Tribunal issues reports -

1985 (reports)

Treaty principles in legislation - courts determine whether or not principles appropriately applied leading to Treaty far-reaching recognition in national & local govt. Te reo Māori also gained greater authority + usage

1986

Landmark court case - established that Crown must pay heed to previous Māori ownership in disposal of surplus Crown assets ie. land.

1987

Treaty settlements signed - settlement on commercial fisheries signed, vesting $170 milion w/ Waitangi Fisheries Commission → able to buy 50% of Sealord Products Ltd.

1992

Te Ture Whenua Māori enacted - act passed to make it very difficult to purchase any remaining Māori land, also seeks to overcome problems of fragmentation of titles among multiple owners

1993

Rising protest on Land and Treaty issues

mid-1990s

Office of Treaty Settlements established - conducts negotiations with Māori claimants on levels of remedy for past breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

1995