Te Tiriti o Waitangi is not some ancient, dusty relic. Hell, it’s barely 185 years old – younger than the first working camera! It is the foundation document of Niu Tīreni, intended to set up a relationship between Māori and the Crown built on the three P’s: partnership, participation, and protection. But as we know, or should know, or are about to know…that is not exactly how things played out.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi, a ‘translated’ (and we use that term loooooosely) promised tangata whenua would retain tino rangatiratanga (full authority, understood at the time to mean sovereignty) over their lands, people, and treasures, while allowing the Crown kawanatanga (a made up word coined by missionaries) the ability to govern their own settlers. The result? A century and a half of land theft, broken promises, cultural erasure, and laws made about Māori, without Māori. And now, even in 2025, without me having to say the name, I’m sure you know (cough cough EW DAVID) are still trying to tutu with things where their little fingers don’t belong. Aiming to turn Te Tiriti into something it never was.

So if you’ve ever wondered what Te Tiriti actually says, why sovereignty was never ceded, and how the mistranslation changed the course of history, this is your guide.
No jargon. No excuses. Just the facts, and a little side eye for those still acting like they don’t get it.

ARTICLE ONE: ‘You Can’t Sit With Us’
“Ko nga Rangatira o te Wakaminenga, me nga Rangatira hoki o ngā hapū o Niu Tireni, ka tuku atu ki te Kuini o Ingarani ake tonu atu…te Kawanatanga katoa o rātou wenua.”

In English Treaty land, this was translated as Māori giving the Crown “sovereignty”. A mistranslation, maybe? Kāhore brother. This was intentional. We know this because of He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Niu Tīreni (1835), signed only five years earlier. In that document, kawanatanga was used to mean “governance; the right to make rules and manage affairs, while kingitanga or tino rangatiratanga referred to complete autonomy and sovereignty. Māori already had systems of law and governance. They had formally declared independence in 1835. They were agreeing to let the Crown govern British settlers, not rule over Māori. Chiefs with tino rangatiratanga weren’t about to hand over supreme authority to a monarch they’d never met. They didn’t.

ARTICLE TWO: ‘Keep Your Hands Off My Taonga’
“Ko te Kuini o Ingarani ka wakarite ka wakaae ki nga Rangatira, ki ngā hapū…te tino rangatiratanga o o rātou wenua, o rātou kainga me o rātou taonga katoa”
This was the Crown’s promise that Māori would keep complete authority over their land, homes, and treasures. In practice, that should have meant Māori control over land sales, protection of sacred sites, and preservation of language and cultural practices. Instead, we got the Suppression of Rebellion Act and the New Zealand Settlements Act 20 years later, which legalised mass land confiscations and the arrest of those who rebelled opposed. We got taonga stolen, stored in museums, or destroyed. We got Te Reo Māori actively suppressed in schools and public life.

ARTICLE THREE: ‘Equal Rights…But Not Really’
“Ko te Kuini ka tuku ki nga tangata Māori

o Niu Tīreni ngā tikanga katoa rite tahi ki ana mea ki ngā tangata o Ingarani”

The promise here was that Māori would have the same rights and privileges as British citizens. But rights without your

language, your land, or your laws are hollow. Equality, without addressing the deep imbalance created by colonisation, is nothing more than a stunt. Real equity requires restoring what was taken because you can’t have equality while injustice still stands.

WE NEVER CEDED SOVEREIGNTY
Māori did not sign away supreme authority over their lands, people, or culture in 1840. Not in Te Tiriti, not in the English version, not ever. The United Nations defines sovereignty as “supreme authority within a territory.” In 1840, Māori held exactly that, complex systems of law, trade, diplomacy, and governance that functioned without British control. The chiefs who signed Te Tiriti were leaders of a nation already recognised on the world stage. They had the receipts. In 1834, they adopted the United Tribes flag, recognised internationally so Māori ships could trade overseas. In 1835, they signed He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Niu Tīreni, a Declaration of Independence acknowledged by King William IV, affirming their full authority. By the time Te Tiriti was drafted (in three days, might I add), Māori were already a sovereign people. Te Tiriti wasn’t about surrendering that. It was about protecting it, while allowing the Crown to manage its own settlers here. But history shows us what happened. Protection was twisted into domination. Partnership became a tool for dispossession. And participation? Reduced to tokenism, a seat at the table only when it suited the Crown.

If you get it now, good. If you still don’t… Well, consider yourself up to date. Toitū te Tiriti, toitū te tangata, toitū te mana motuhake. Catch you up – Bre xo