MAKING HISTORY
Your invitation to visit the historic homeplace of Te Tiriti O Waitangi, and learn about the people behind it
Waitangi Day has always been a poignant celebration for New Zealanders, yet just 45 per cent of Kiwis have actually visited the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, research shows.
“For a lot of New Zealanders, Waitangi is an abstract concept,” says Nineke Metz, head of sales and marketing at the Grounds, who instigated the study. “They may have heard about Treaty claims in the news, but they may not see Waitangi as the birthplace of our nation, where something really special happened in 1840.”
Now thanks to an inspiring new campaign featuring descendants of people who were integral to the signing of Te Tiriti O Waitangi, Kiwis are being invited not only to learn about their fascinating intergenerational stories, two of which are told below, but to visit the picturesque 16.5 ha Treaty grounds themselves. This historic Bay of Islands site is where Ma¯ ori and British Crown came together to found Aotearoa as we know it, 183 years ago.
Today, it is home not only to the Treaty House and Te Whare Ru¯ nanga but also two contemporary museums. Te Ko¯ ngahu Museum of Waitangi, (which opened in 2016), weaves together the stories and taonga (treasured objects) of the Treaty and its founding documents; and Te Rau Aroha Museum of the Price of Citizenship, (opened in 2020), examines the impact of Ma¯ ori sacrifice during times of war. The Waitangi Treaty Grounds are proud to invite Kiwis to experience this sacred space for themselves.
OWEN TAITUHA,
Curator, Te Ko¯ ngahu Museum of Waitangi, Te Rau Aroha Museum of the Price of Citizenship
“I am a grandchild of the late Kingi Taurua, [Silver Fern coach Dame Noeline Taurua’s father and Owen’s auntie], who was a very significant chief from this area. He spoke to Charles and Diana when they came here in ’83 and also convened the Queen in 1990. He was the head of a group of Nga¯ puhi leaders called Te Taumata Kaumatua o Nga¯ puhi. He was the mouthpiece for Nga¯puhi for a very long time.
“I have many connections here, 17 generations back to be precise. I descend from many chiefs. One of those chiefs, Ta¯ reha, refused to sign the Te Tiriti in 1840, though, he did sign He Whakaputanga 1835, Ma¯ ori Declaration of Independence. Marupo¯ was the seventh signature on the Te Tiriti and the 26th signature on the He Whakaputanga. They had slightly different interests and approaches when it came to Te Tiriti and the settlers. Nevertheless, they were both fiercely passionate advocates of Ma¯ ori rangatiratanga and authority. You may have seen the iconic artist’s rendition of the Treaty signing ceremony in Waitangi. There is a tall chief, the tallest, in the back of the procession behind the table. That is Ta¯ reha. Furthermore, there is a chief that is standing up in the middle of the precession with a taiaha in hand looking to be yelling. That is my tupuna, Marupo¯.
“He was the chief who stripped down to just his piupiu and said some brutally honest things about the Crown’s actions and warned his people to be cautious — ultimately, he ended up signing the Treaty. But for Ta¯ reha, he felt he didn’t need the colonialists and what they had to offer. Marupo¯ supported his relative Hone Heke, who was responsible for the cutting down of the flagpole at Korora¯ reka, and Marupo¯ continued to fight alongside Heke through the following Northern Wars, 18451846.
“For me, my goal has always been to make a career telling these stories of Aotearoa’s history. I’m a historian, and what better place to be a historian than in Waitangi?”
DAN BUSBY, AKA DAN PUHIPI, Guide Team Leader, Waitangi Treaty Grounds
“Pu¯ hipi was one of my ancestors, a signatory to Te Tiriti. His name was Te Ripi. He was baptised under the name Pu¯ hipi, a transliteration for Busby. James Busby [British Resident at Waitangi from 1833] became his godfather. Neither the family nor the tribe will admit to anything going on, but when one of Busby’s Ma¯ ori house servants fell pregnant, she took herself back to the tribe — and this was the wisdom of the chiefs at that time — they told her, because you’ve brought disgrace on our tribe, on yourself, and on that man that you’ve had this child to, you’re going to go back and name that child after their father. They exiled her, which broke her heart.
“The name stayed in my lineage for five generations, until it got to my dad. My dad’s name is James Busby. I tell everyone I’ve got connections on both sides. We have an English connection as well as a Scottish, as the James Busby the first’s wife was Scottish.
“In terms of the responsibilities that I have brought down through the generations, in terms of Te Tiriti and He Whakaputanga that my tipuna were part of, I have a responsibility to continue on those aspirations. I truly believe that my ancestors wanted us to retain our culture but move ahead in the 18th, 19th, and 21st century, and they saw the British Empire as the way forward. But we never gave up our Mana Motuhake, we never gave up our sovereignty, our tino rangatiratanga.
“Our ancestors had a good relationship with the kings. They met with King George face-to-face. That’s how our chiefs would meet: ‘I’ll look you in the eye, and you’d better not lie to me, otherwise, it’s going to cost you your life.’ King George honoured our chiefs; our chiefs honoured King George. King William was on the throne when the Declaration of Independence was signed. Queen Victoria was on the throne when Te Tiriti was signed.
“After the Treaty was signed in Waitangi, most of the signings were in the Hokianga, where the prominent chiefs were. The Treaty documents were taken by the missionaries and the British soldiers up and down the country. My ancestor Te Ripi Pu¯ hipi was the signatory in Kaitaia, and it’s on the original document, under one of the paramount chiefs.
“Now, I’ve got a responsibility to uphold both my colonial side as well as my Ma¯ ori side, of those principles of Te Tiriti.”