Mangungu, 12 February 1840

At a meeting at Mangungu, Hokianga, on 12 February 1840, 64 signatures were added to the Waitangi sheet of the Treaty of Waitangi. Joseph Nias, the captain of HMS Herald, naval officer Willoughby Shortland, Anglican Church Missionary Society missionaries George Clarke and Richard Taylor, Wesleyan (Methodist) missionaries William Woon and John Hobbs, who also acted as interpreter, and G.P. Russell from Kohukohu all witnessed the signatures. The official party was led by Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson, who had come almost directly to Hokianga from the first treaty signing at Waitangi on 6 February. The several thousand Māori who assembled at Mangungu for the 12 February meeting represented many different hapū (subtribes) within the Ngāpuhi iwi (tribe).

Hobson wrote that on the morning of 12 February, ‘an unfavourable spirit prevailed amongst them’, with some openly hostile about joining the meeting. The treaty was explained by Hobson, with Hobbs translating, and then the meeting was opened to discussion. While there were only 10 speakers, many spoke more than once and the discussions went on to 6 p.m. with no resolution.

As had occurred in Waitangi, those opposed to the treaty spoke first. Their biggest issues were over the power of the governor and the security of land. For example, Pāpāhia said of Hobson, ‘He to be high, very high, like Maungataniwha and we low on the ground; nothing but little hills. No, no, no! Let us be equal; why should one hill be high and another low?’ [1] Taonui said of the land that it ‘is our father; the land is our chieftainship; we will not give it up.’ [2] Hobson made a promise at this meeting that the land would ‘never be forcibly taken’, and that the queen’s government would always act with ‘truth and justice’. [3] Finally one Christian rangatira (chief), unnamed in the records, asked for the missionaries’ opinion on the treaty. They said that it would be good for Māori. Following this, between 6 p.m. and midnight, the 64 signatures were collected. Other Māori present of lower status were not allowed to sign. The signing stalled because no gifts were being distributed among the signatories. When they were told by the official party that Hobson could be seen to be paying for signatures, some at the meeting suggested he should leave.

On 13 February there was an all-day celebration at Hōreke, a timber-milling site near Mangungu, where 3000 people feasted. Blankets and tobacco were given out, but many appeared unhappy with these gifts. On 14 February, as the official party was preparing to leave, the rangatira of two Roman Catholic hapū asked to be withdrawn from the treaty. Another hapū, backed up by a letter with 50 signatures, also asked to be removed and threw back the blankets at Hobson, saying that this was their alternative to cutting them as there were not enough to distribute. Hobson refused to remove the signatures, presumably on the basis of the English understanding that contracts cannot be revoked by only one side.

Though opposition to the Treaty of Waitangi was strongest at this meeting, those who signed at Mangungu were later the most faithful to it. Under the leadership of Tāmati Wāka Nene, Āperahama Taonui and Mohi Tāwhai. they fought against Hōne Heke Pōkai and Kawiti in the 1845–6 Northern War.

[1] T. Lindsay Buick, The Treaty of Waitangi: or, how New Zealand became a British colony, Mackay, Wellington, 1914, p. 137

[2] Claudia Orange, The Treaty of Waitangi, Allen & Unwin, Port Nicholson Press with assistance from the Historical Publications Branch, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington, 1987, p. 64

[3] Paul Moon and Peter Biggs, The treaty and its times: the illustrated history, Resource Books, Auckland, p. 213