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He Whakaputanga – Declaration of Independence

by Basil Keane

I te tau 1835 ka hainatia e ngā rangatira Te Whakaputanga o Te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni, e whakaū ana i te kaha o te mana o Aotearoa. I tuhia te whakaputanga reo Pākehā e tētahi āpiha o Ingarangi, i runga anō i ngā kōhimuhimu tērā tētahi tangata Wīwī e anga ana ki te whakatū i a ia anō hei kīngi mō Aotearoa.


Background to the declaration

Te tononga o te Rehireneti

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.

Te Haki o Te Whakaminenga

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.

Te hainatanga o te whakaputanga 

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.


The contents of the declaration

Te waihanga i te whakaputanga

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.

Ngā wāhanga o te whakaputanga

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.


The aftermath of the declaration

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.

Te whakamana i te whakaputanga

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.

Ngā take e pā ana ki te Tiriti o Waitangi

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.

Footnotes
    • Tohutoro Benedict Kingsbury, 'The Treaty of Waitangi: some international law aspects.' In Waitangi: Maori and Pakeha perspectives of the Treaty of Waitangi, edited by I. H. Kawharu. Oxford University Press, Tāmakimakaurau, 1989, p. 124. Back

Hononga, rauemi nō waho

More suggestions and sources


How to cite this page: Basil Keane, 'He Whakaputanga – Declaration of Independence', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/he-whakaputanga/print (accessed 30 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Basil Keane, i tāngia i te 20 o Hune 2012