I ngā tau tīmata o te rautau 1800 ka taetae mai ngā kaihoko, ngā kaipatu tohorā me te ttini o te hunga manene ki Aotearoa. Tērā anō te āwangawanga a te hunga mihinare, a te tini hoki o te hunga manene me ngā iwi Māori hoki ki te noho kore ture o ngā whakahaere o te motu. Me whakatū kāwanatanga rawa e tau mai ai he rongoā mō tēnei mate. I muri mai ka tau mai te kaipuke Wīwī, a La Favorite, i te tau 1830, ka māharahara ngā Pākehā kei whakaekea a Aotearoa e iwi kē.
I te tau 1831 ka tukua e ngā rangatira 13 o te Tai Tokerau he reta ki te kīngi me te inoi kia whakahaumarutia rātou e ia. Ko tō rātou kaiāwhina rātou ko te mihinare nei, ko William Yate. Ko te tukunga iho ka whakatūria a Te Pūhipi ki te tūranga Rehireneti. I tōna taenga mai i te tau 1833 kāore i nui ōna rauemi. Kāore he ope taua, kāore hoki he pirihimana hei tautoko i āna mahi, me ōna hiahia. Ka whiua te kōrero mōna, ānō nei he manuao kāore ōna pū tōna tūranga.
Mehemea kāore he haki o ngā kaipuke o Aotearoa, tērā pea ka ngaro rātou te muru, arā, ō ratou kaipuke, e ngā āpiha o ētahi atu whenua. Ko te kaipuke tērā o Patuone rāua ko Taonui a Sir George Murray ka kāwhakina, ā, ka puritia ki Poihākena mō te kore mau haki ā-motu.
Ka rere te karanga a Te Pūhipi kia kōwhiria mai e ngā rangatira o te Tai Tokerau tētahi haki mō tēnei motu. E toru ngā kōwhiringa mō rātou, nā Te Karuwhā tonu i whakarite. Nō te 20 o Maehe 1834 ka kōwhiria e ngā rangatira te haki ki Waitangi, ā, ka mōhiotia ko te haki o te Whakaminenga. Ka whakahōnoretia ki te tohu waipū rua tekau mā tahi, ā, ka whakamanaia e te kīngi o Ingarangi, koia hoki tēnei te haki o ngā kaipuke mai i Aotearoa. Ko te tūmanako a Te Pūhipi kia mahi tahi ngā iwi Māori ki raro i te maru o te haki hou.
I tua atu i te noho kore ture o te motu, ka māharaharatia ngā tiro hiakai mai a Wīwī me Amerika ki tēnei whenua. Ā, i te tau 1834 ka mōhiotia e whakamaherehere ana te Wīwī a Hāre Panera Te Tiari (de Thierry) ki te haramai ki Aotearoa ki te taunaha i te rohe o Hokianga hei whenua motuhake.
Kātahi ka huia mai e Te Pūhipi ngā manukura o te Tai Tokerau kia tāmoko i te Whakaputanga. Nō te Oketopa 1835 ka tāia e te huihuinga o ngā rangatira 34 o Te Tai Tokerau. Kia tae rawa ki te tau 1839 e heri haeretia ana te Whakaputanga ki ngā iwi o te motu. E 52 tōpū ngā moko. Ko ētahi anō i haina ko te rangatira o Waikato ko Te Wherowhero, meāke ka tū hei kīngi Māori; rāua ko Te Hāpuku o Ngāti Kahungunu.
Ko te tauira tuatahi o te whakataunga he mea hanga e Te Pūhipi (James Busby) rātou ko Te Karuwhā (Henry Williams), ko Te Koroneho (William Colenso).
I tuhia te whakataunga ki te reo Māori kātahi ka whakapākehātia. Nō te whakatauritetanga o ngā tuhinga ka kitea ētahi hapa. I te taha Māori ka kīia te kupu ‘matou’ hei tohu i te whakaminenga, ā, i te whakapākehātanga ka huaina te kupu ‘we’. Engari i ērā atu wāhanga kua whakamahia te kupu ‘ratou’ hei tohu i te whakaminenga. Kāore i tuhia te ‘wh’ i roto i te reo Māori o te whakataunga (i te Tiriti o Waitangi rānei).
Ko te ingoa whānui o te whakataunga ko He w[h]akaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tirene, Declaration of Independence of New Zealand.
E whā ngā wāhanga o te whakataunga.
Ka whakatau te tuatahi, he whenua rangatira tēnei, arā, he whenua whai mana motuhake, ā, ko te rangatiratanga ki tō rātou kotahitanga, i kīia rā e rātou ko ‘te Wakaminenga o nga Hapu o Nu Tirene’.
Ko te tuarua ka whakatau ko te ‘kingitanga’ me te ‘mana i te whenua’ ki ngā rangatira o te Whakaminenga. Ko ngā ture mā ngā huihuinga hei waihanga.
I raro i te whakapuaki tuatoru ka whakaritea kia tū he huihuinga i ia ngahuru, i ia ngahuru. Ka noho ko tēnei hei Pāremata hanga ture, whakawā, whakaū i te rongomau me te whakahaere tauhokohoko. Ka tono hoki te whakaminenga ki ngā iwi whakatetonga o Hauraki kia uru rātou ki te Whakaminenga.
Ko tā te whakapuaki tuawhā he whakarite kia tukuna he kape o te whakataunga ki te kīngi o Ingarangi me te mihi ki a ia mōna i whakamana i te haki. I mihi anō ki a ia me te inoi ki a ia hei matua mō te whenua ririki.
Ka tonoa atu ki a Kīngi Wiremu Tuawhā, ā, ka whakamanahia e Peretānia.
Arā tonu ngā whakamārama rerekē mō te pūtakenga mai o te Whakaputanga. E ai ki ētahi nā te Rehireneti nā Te Pūhipi i waihanga hei akiaki i ngā rangatira kia mau ki te āhua o te ture me te noho pai. Ki tā ētahi anō, he mea āta whiriwhiri nā ngā rangatira kia ngāwari ai tā rātou pupuri i te mana motuhake mō ake tonu atu.
Taro iho i te hainatanga o te Whakaputanga, kāore noa te huihuinga i hui. Ko te raru tonu e whawhai tonu ana ētahi o ngā iwi i taua wā.
Nō te tau 1836 ka whakamanahia e Peretānia te Whakaputanga. I muri ka whakaae a Wīwī ki te whakaōkawatanga o Aotearoa hei whenua motuhake ki raro i te mana o ōna rangatira Māori. Ko ngā whakaaro hoki i taua wā o te Komiti Whiriwhiri Take ā-Motu o Amerika mō Aotearoa: ‘kei raro i te mana o ngā iwi tangata whenua, ā, ko te nuinga i minea mai. Ā, nō te 28 o Oketopa 1835 ka hainatia te kawenata whakatau i tō rātou mana motuhake i raro i te ingoa o Te Whakaminenga o nga hapu o Niu Tireni.’1
Ko te tūtohunga o Aotearoa hei whenua motuhake te take i hikaka ai a Ingarangi ki te haina i te Tiriti o Waitangi, otirā ki te whakaū i tēnei whenua hei koroni nō Peretānia. Kei te whiti tuatahi o te Tiriti o Waitangi ka pā ngā kōrero ki ngā rangatira o Te Whakaminenga o ngā Hapū o Nū Tīreni, me ngā rangatira motuhake kāore anō kia haina i te Whakaputanga.
Ko tētahi o ngā take o te Tiriti o Waitangi, ko te whai o ana kaiwaihanga, i roto i te wāhanga reo Pākehā kia whakamoanatia te mana o te Whakaputanga. Engari i ngā kupu o te Whakaputanga, ka whakamahia te kupu ‘rangatiratanga’ mō te ‘independence’. Kāti, i te wāhanga reo Māori o te Tiriti o 1840, i te whiti tuarua ka whakanōhia te rangatiratanga ki te Māori. Waihoki, i whakamāoritia te ‘sovereignty’ ki te kupu ‘kāwanatanga’. Kāore tonu i whakamahia ngā kupu i roto kē i te Whakaputanga, arā, te kīngi’ me te ‘mana’ hei hoa mō te kupu ‘sovereignty’. Koinei ka heria e ngā rōpū Kotahitanga te whakaaro he kotahi tonu te Whakaputanga me te Tiriti, arā, he whakaū i te rangatiratanga ki te iwi Māori te mahi o aua pukapuka e rua.
Orange, Claudia. The Treaty of Waitangi. Te Whanganui-a-Tara: Bridget Williams Books, 2011.