Treaty events 1850-99 - Treaty timeline

1854 New Zealand's first Parliament

The Constitution Act 1852 set up New Zealand's parliamentary system, based on the British Westminster model. The first elections were held in 1853, and Parliament sat for the first time in 1854. The right to vote was based on the possession of individual property, so Maori who possessed their land communally were almost entirely excluded from voting for Parliament. Although the 1852 legislation provided for native districts that allowed for some form of temporary, local self-government for Maori, none were established.

1858 First Maori King

Waikato chief Te Wherowhero (who had not signed the Treaty of Waitangi) became the first Maori King, in 1858, and took the name Potatau. Maori wanted a leader who would unite the tribes, protect land from further sales and make laws for Maori to follow. Many Maori supported the King movement (Kingitanga), but some chiefs refused to put their mana under that of someone else. The Kingitanga regarded the Queen as complementary to the Maori King, not as a competitor, but the colonial government took a different view.

1860 New Zealand Wars begin

The first conflict in the main phase of the New Zealand Wars began in Taranaki in 1860. A ceasefire ended that conflict in 1861, but warfare between Maori tribes and British forces took place in other parts of the North Island between 1863 and the early 1870s. The Waikato War (1863–4), which focused on the Kingitanga, ended with a Maori defeat at the battle of Orakau in April 1864. By then, the British troops (with some Maori supporters) had occupied most of the Waikato. War continued sporadically for another decade. King Tawhiao made a formal act of peace in 1882.

1860 Kohimarama conference

About 200 Maori met at Kohimarama in July 1860 to discuss the Treaty of Waitangi and land. Governor Thomas Gore Browne had convened the conference partly to draw attention away from the Kingitanga and warfare in Taranaki. Those at the conference reaffirmed the Treaty of Waitangi and pledged not to take actions that would be inconsistent with their recognition of the Queen's sovereignty. The Kohimarama Covenant suggested that a native council be set up. This did not occur, and the conference was never held again.

1862 Changes in Native Affairs

Until 1862 Maori or Native Affairs was the responsibility of the governor because of concerns in England that the elected settler governments would put their interests ahead of those of Maori. In 1862 the British government instructed the governor generally to accept the advice of his ministers in Native Affairs. Responsibility for Native Affairs did not fully pass to the New Zealand government until 1865.

1862 Native Land Act

The Native Land Act 1862 set up the Native Land Court to adjudicate on competing customary claims to land. It created a court of Maori chiefs that was chaired by a Pakeha magistrate. The act also allowed Maori to deal directly with settlers over land. Because it contravened the Treaty, it had to be approved in London. The act was barely implemented before it was replaced in 1865.

1863 New Zealand Settlements Act

The New Zealand Settlements Act, passed during the New Zealand Wars, authorised the taking of land from Maori. The legislation assisted European settlement, particularly by placing military settlers on lands where they could act as a buffer between Maori and European communities. Its intention and effect was to punish so-called rebel Maori by allowing the confiscation of their lands. Maori considered to be in rebellion were not entitled to compensation, and even Maori thought of as loyal were first offered monetary compensation rather than the return of their land. Later, the law was amended to allow awards of land, including small areas to surrendered rebels.

1864 Land confiscations

The first proclamation confiscating land under the New Zealand Settlements Act was made in December 1864. In all, five districts were proclaimed to be under the act during the next three years: Taranaki, Waikato, Tauranga, Eastern Bay of Plenty and Mohaka–Waikare. The area affected was about 1.5 million acres. A Compensation Court (mostly comprising judges of the Native Land Court) was set up to hear claims by loyal Maori for monetary compensation or recovery of their land.

1865 Native Land Court established

The Native Land Court was established in 1865, replacing the 1862 system. In determining ownership, the court was required to name no more than 10 owners, regardless of block size. All other tribal members who may have been owners were effectively dispossessed. The newly designated owners held their lands individually, not communally as part of (or as trustees for) a tribal group. They could manage it, including selling it, as individuals and for their own benefit.

1865–7 Legislation to secure peace

In 1865, the Kingitanga leaders implemented a ceasefire in the Waikato. The British government announced that it would begin to withdraw its forces from New Zealand. In an effort to try to secure peace, successive settler governments passed laws that were intended to give practical effect to some of the promises in the Treaty. These included the Native Rights Act 1865, which gave Maori the rights of natural-born British subjects and allowed them to sue and be sued in the Supreme Court.

1866 Te Kooti imprisoned without trial

During 1865 and 1866, with the rise of the Pai Marire movement, the government arrested people thought to be aiding the so-called rebels. Te Kooti Rikirangi of Poverty Bay was one of these. He was sent to the Chatham Islands, and his pleas for a trial were ignored. On 4 July 1868, Te Kooti and many followers escaped and were subsequently pursued on the East Coast and in the Urewera and the Taupo districts. From 1868, the government began to charge particular individuals with crimes such as murder or treason, but Te Kooti escaped the pursuing forces and was pardoned in 1883. He founded the Ringatu Church and provided it with rituals and structures that last to this day.

1868 Titokowaru resists land confiscation

Ngati Ruanui leader Titokowaru headed a strong resistance to land confiscation in south Taranaki in 1868. His force swept south from the Hawera district, inflicted heavy defeats on the colonial forces and finally threatened Whanganui. In February 1869, for reasons that are now disputed, Titokowaru's army largely deserted him. He became a fugitive and was hunted back into the inaccessible upper Waitara area. He was later involved in the Parihaka passive resistance movement.

1868 First Maori Members of Parliament

The Maori Representation Act 1867 created four Maori parliamentary seats based on adult (male) voting. According to the size of the population, though, there should have been more seats. The first members were elected in 1868. Adult Maori men were given universal suffrage (voting rights) 11 years before Pakeha men, who still faced property qualifications.

1873 Fragmentation of Maori land ownership

The Native Land Act 1873 allowed the Native Land Court to fragment land ownership among Maori. Instead of having 10 names listed as owners and the rest of the tribal group missing out, everyone with an ownership interest was now to be put on the title. Conceived of as a way of recognising tribal ownership, it did not individualise land ownership but fragmented it. Individual Maori were not given blocks large enough to support themselves, but they received shares in blocks that were then partitioned and repartitioned, at great time and expense, into uneconomic segments. This, and the ordinary costs of living, pressured many into selling their interests. Although intended to slow land selling, purchasers (both Crown and private) resorted to secretive methods such as paying advances to numerous individuals, sometimes for years, then going to the court and claiming the percentage of the block corresponding to their proportion of the shares. The effect upon Maori was disastrous.

1877 Treaty of Waitangi judged to be a 'legal nullity'

Chief Justice James Prendergast, in the Wi Parata v Bishop of Wellington case, described the Treaty of Waitangi  as 'worthless' because it was signed 'between a civilised nation and a group of savages'. This extreme view held that the Treaty had no judicial or constitutional role in government because Maori were not a nation capable of signing a treaty. Since the Treaty had not been incorporated into domestic law, it was a 'legal nullity'. The Privy Council overturned many of Prendergast's conclusions by the beginning of the 20th century.

1879 Major meetings on the Treaty

Meetings at Kohimarama (1879), Te Tii (1881) and other places brought the Treaty of Waitangi back into prominence. Over 3000 Maori attended the Te Tii meeting, at which a monument to the Treaty was dedicated at Te Tii marae and demands for a Maori parliament were put to the government.

1881 Parihaka occupied by force

From 1879 Te Whiti o Rongomai encouraged his followers to uproot survey pegs and plough up roads and fences erected on land they considered to be theirs. There were  arrests and further peaceful resistance, so the government sent an armed force, commanded by Native Minister John Bryce, into the Taranaki town of Parihaka between 5 and 8 November 1881. The unopposed forces ran amok. Te Whiti and fellow prophet Tohu were imprisoned and exiled to the South Island to serve their prison sentences. Parihaka has been a symbol of Maori resistance ever since.

1882 Maori deputations to the Queen

The first of several Maori deputations went to England in 1882 to seek redress from the Crown. Maori felt they had a special, personal relationship with their Treaty partner, Queen Victoria. In this attempted meeting, and each subsequent instance, they were referred back to the New Zealand government on the grounds that the imperial government no longer had the responsibility for such matters.

1891 Investigation of Maori land

A royal commission investigated the state of the laws controlling the administration of Maori land. It found a complex and contradictory set of laws and fragmented ownership. Maori had virtually no land in the South Island and less than 40% of the North Island. Much of their land was of poor quality and hard to develop. The commission made many recommendations to improve the situation, but few were implemented, largely because they were inconsistent with government policy.

1892 Maori parliaments

Several Maori parliaments met from the early 1890s. These were a way for Maori to air their grievances and seek remedies. Following meetings at Waitangi and Orakei, a Maori congress or parliament (called Kotahitanga, which means unity) met for the first time at Waipawa in Hawke's Bay, in 1892. This Kotahitanga then moved to several other locations and developed a more permanent base at Papawai in Wairarapa. The Kingitanga's own parliament was called Kauhanganui. Both aimed to unify Maori, but neither wholly succeeded.