THE TREATY OF WAITANGI

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 108, 10 January 1940, Page 4

THE TREATY OF WAITANGI

THE decision of the Maoris of the Matatua tribal district to re-enact the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi as carried out on June 16th 3, hundred years ago on the foreshore of Whakatane brings new interest to the historic document, which, to the Maoris represents the Magna Carta of their rights and their liberties. The Treaty, so much in the limelight . during the Centennial year is the permanent living emblem and symbol of the loyalty to and confidence in the British Crown, to give the Native race of New Zealand, •and their descendant? for ever equal rights and independence w/.th their Pakeha neighbours,. In the early winter of 1840, a trading schooner crossed the Whakatane bar, bringing the famous missionary the Rev. R. Maunsell, and a number of others who had been commissioned by Governor Hobson to obtain the signatures of the Bay of Plenty Chiefs to the Treaty which was moulding the destiny of the then infant colony. Captain J. W. Fredarb master of the schooner 'Mercury' was to witness the historic signing by the chiefs. In all 7 eighteen of the leading Maori chieftains were assembled representing" the tribes of the great Matatua confederation. That the importance of the occasion was fully realised by the natives may be gathered from the fact that the point of assembly was in the vicinity of the sacred Rock of Pohaturoa. Watched by silent assemblage of their own people the main actors in this far-reaching ceremony came forward one by one and took the oath ox loyalty to the 'Great White Queen over the Sea.' The signing of the document was simplified by each chief merely attaching thereto a rough copy of his 'Moko'—the dominant design of the tattoo on their respective features. Those who signed in the shadow of Pohaturca were as under: Moka.i, Mata, Tarawatewate, Tunui, Taupiri, Haukakawa, Pairiari, Matatetohia, Rewa, Tupara. Moks.i, Te Uira, Ngahu, Rahiri, Te Moke, Te Wera. The last five included outsiders from the Ngati Maru, Ngatipou, and Ngati Tewehi tribes. Thus were the peoples of the Rangitaiki made .part of the living commonwealth of nations which is the wonder of the modern world- Since that historic date they have been held responsible to the white ma.n's code of laws. Differing vastly from their own, they have nevertheless in spite of the all-too-oft-en bad examples of the Pakehas endeavoured to live up to and respect the new standards of life. Their loyalty has been proved in the now almost forgotten Boer War, in the four years of senselessness known as the Great War, and to-day when the spectre of conflict is once again raising its head. Maori and Pakeha have a high destiny to fulfil in this green land which has been blessed by the Almighty with abundance and -beauty. As they have fought side by side in the common cause of Empire, so may they march on shoulder to uhoulder to the great future which lies in store for our mutual country—this "Little Britain of the South."