The Changing Images of Nineteenth Century Māori Society – from Tribes to Nation

Abstract

This thesis is an historical, ethnographic and linguistic interpretation of rangatira motivations concerning He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni, 1835 and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, 1840 and the movement towards the creation of a Māori nation. It contests the idea that Māori ceded sovereignty forever when rangatira signed the treaty. It constructs a mana Māori history by studying a number of significant events leading up to the signing. The background is laid before you of Māori thinking of the time through an exegesis of early nineteenth-century Māori language texts and a study of the discourse of rangatira at the time. The thesis argues that rangatira of the period had purposive intent and were agents of change. To understand the thinking of the time and the moral and ethical codes of rangatira it has been important to study Māori religious worldview, its cosmology and metaphysics. The research also explores Maori political and economic structures of 1800-1840. The phenomenon of nation making is considered through a study of six decisive events and is the basis of this new interpretation of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The components of the phenomenon are: Māori leaders' visits overseas, in particular the visit of Hongi Hika and Waikato to England, the letter from Māori leaders to King William IV in 1831, the encounter with James Busby the First British Resident, the selection of a national flag and its symbolic significance, the Declaration of Independence - He Whakaputanga o Te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni in 1835 - and the discourse between Māori to the offer of a Treaty with Victoria, the British Queen. The study of Māori narrative indicates the historical significance of these events, which have not been accorded significance in settler histories. Events were purposive and intentional. Māori were open to new ideas and moving towards nationhood.