On 24 June 1840, the chiefs Te Hāpuku, Waikato and Mahikai signed the Herald sheet of the Treaty of Waitangi. The official party, which included Edward Williams and Thomas Bunbury, arrived at the mouth of Tukituki River on the day. Hara, who had already signed the treaty, came with Te Hāpuku and also acted as a witness.
When Te Hāpuku refused to sign at first, Bunbury assured him that the British government ‘would not “lower the chiefs in the estimation of their tribes”; rather, Te Hapuku’s assent to the treaty “could only tend to increase his consequence”.’ [1] Bunbury also claimed that the treaty would reduce fighting between tribes. Despite these arguments, it was Hara who eventually convinced Te Hāpuku to sign the treaty.
[1] Claudia Orange, The Treaty of Waitangi, Allen & Unwin, Port Nicholson Press with assistance from the Historical Publications Branch, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington, 1987, pp. 81–2
