Pages tagged with: maori

Information about some of the key people who have featured in the story of the Treaty of Waitangi

In May 2008 Maori gathered at Ngaruawahia to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the formation of the Kingitanga, or Maori King movement. The current king, Te Arikinui Tuheitia Paki, was crowned in August 2006, following the death of his mother, Dame Te Atairangikaahu.

The pressure to sell land was a key factor in the creation of the Kingitanga. Before European settlement Maori could not sell land and few chiefs had the mana or authority to gift land. But by the late 1840s secret deals with government officials were occurring.

Māori responses in the early contact period were determined by well-established customs and practices.

The Kingitanga has often been described as a Waikato initiative, yet its origins can be traced to Otaki on the Kapiti coast.

Potatau set a boundary separating his authority from that of the governor: 'Let Maungatautari be our boundary. Do not encroach on this side. Likewise I am not to set a foot on that side.'

For low-paid workers and beneficiaries, making ends meet has always been a constant struggle.  Life can be even tougher for those without a home of their own.

Despite all the talk of the 'birth of a nation', the place of the Treaty of Waitangi or Maori in the centennial celebrations was less obvious.

The fall and rise of Maori seats in the 20th century

There were considerable tensions between the Americans and Māori, so strenuous efforts were made to build inter-racial bridges.

'Hauhau' prisoners on Napier foreshore, 1866.

A group at the Te Aro Pah, Port Nicholson by George French Angas

The head of a New Zealander by Sydney Parkinson

Series of photographs showing Maori, Niuean and Cook Island soldiers swimming at Narrow Neck beach, February 1916.

An unidentified Maori man with a moko (facial tattoo)

Maori men and women congregate outside the Rotorua courthouse on election day, possibly in 1908.

A Maori polling booth at Te Whaiti, Urewera

'So that women may receive the vote', by Meri Mangakahia (1893)

As the second Māori King, Tāwhiao had led his people through the traumatic period of the wars of the 1860s. He was succeeded by his son Mahuta.

The Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 established the Waitangi Tribunal, which was to provide 'for the observance and confirmation of the principles' of the Treaty. It initially investigated claims dating from the passage of the Act, but in 1985 its jurisdiction was extended back to 1840.