Treaty of Waitangi

Aotearoa New Zealands 1840 founding document of Crown Maori partnership.

Overview

Signed in February 1840 between the British Crown and over 500 Maori rangatira, the Treaty of Waitangi promised Maori undisturbed possession of their lands and taonga in the Maori text and ceded governorship to the Queen, with the English text transferring sovereignty outright. Divergent texts and breaches fueled more than a century of grievance. Since the Waitangi Tribunal was created in 1975 and empowered to reach back to 1840, the treaty has moved to the center of constitutional meaning, courts reading legislation consistently with its principles. New Zealand has no single entrenched constitution, and the treaty is its foundational norm.