Te Hainatanga o te Tiriti

Nō te taenga ake o Hopihona ki Pēwhairangi i runga i te HMS Herald i te 29 Hanuere 1840, ka noho ko ia te Rūtene-Kāwana o tētahi koroni kāore anō i whakatūria, kāore anō i āta whakatauria tōna rahi. Ko ngā tohutohu a Lord Normanby ki a ia (otirā, nō James Stephen, o te Tari o ngā Koroni, te ringa tuhituhi i ngā tohutohu) kia riro i a ia te mana whakahaere i te whenua, engari kia whakaae anō ngā rangatira Māori ki tēnei āhua. Kāore i hoatu ki a Hopihona he tauira o te Tiriti. I a ia e rere mai ana ki Aotearoa, ka peka atu a Hopihona ki Poihākena, ka āta kōrerorero tahi ki a Tā George Gipps, Kāwana o New South Wales i tērā wā. Ka puta i a Gipps he pānui ōkawa e mea ana katoa ngā taitara mō ngā whenua i Aotearoa, ka mātua whakawhiwhia e te Karauna.

Ka tae ake a Hopihona ki Pēwhairangi, ka whakakorehia te tūranga o Te Pūhipi hei Rēreneti o Ingarangi. Heoi, ka tonoa a Te Pūhipi kia āwhina ki te whakarite i ngā pānui ōkawa (ki te reo Pākehā anake) e whakaatu ana kua noho ko Hopihona hei Māngai mō Ingarangi, hei Rūtene-Kāwana anō hoki, e whakamōhio ana anō hoki kāore e mana ngā mahi taunaha whenua kia whakaaetia rā anō e ngā mana hou. Ka tonoa a William Colenso (Te Koroneho), te kaitā o te mīhana CMS, kia tā mai i ēnei, me tētahi reta (ki te reo Māori anake) ka tohaina ki ngā “tino rangatira ” o te “Whakaminenga o ngā Hapū” e whakaatu ana kua tatū mai he “rangatira” i raro i te maru o te Kuini o Ingarangi “hei Kāwana hoki mō tātou”. Ka pōwhiritia ngā rangatira Māori kia tūtaki ki a ia i te Wenerei (te 5 Pepuere), i te kāinga o Busby i Waitangi.

Ka whakariterite a Hopihona me tana hēkeretari, a J.S. Freeman, i ētahi kōrero mō roto i tētahi tiriti tuku mana kia hainahia e ngā rangatira i taua hui. Mauria atu ana ngā kōrero nei ki a Te Pūhipi, hei tirotiro māna. Ki tā Te Pūhipi, kāore i eke panuku ngā kōrero. Ka kī ake ia māna e whakapai ake. Oti ana ngā mahi whakatikatika nei a Te Pūhipi i te 3 Pepuere. I te whakamātauranga tuarua ki te āta whakatakoto i ngā kōrero kia tika, ka oti mai he Tiriti e toru ōna upoko, me ētahi atu kōrero roa tonu e whakamārama ana i te kaupapa o te Tiriti. Kāore a Hopihona i pai ki aua whakamārama. Ka kuhu atu ia i ētahi kupu whakamārama poto ake hei kupu whakataki, engari ka pupuri ki ngā wāhanga e toru a Te Pūhipi. Hei whakatepe, ka tāpiria he kōwae whakatūturu.

Hoatu ana he kape o tēnei tauira ki a Henry Williams (Te Karuwhā) rāua ko tana tama, a Edward, hei whakamāori mā rāua ī te 4 Pepuere. I te 5 Pepuere, kua tae atu ki a Hopihona te tauira Māori o te Tiriti o Waitangi hei tāpae ki te aroaro o ngā rangatira e rūmene mai ana ki Waitangi i taua rā. Ka takoto te Tiriti ki mua i te aroaro o ngā rangatira āhua 500 nei i tae ake. Ka whakaekea te hui e te pō, e haere tonu ana ngā whakawhiti kōrero me ngā taukumekume. Pēnei tonu a Hopihona ka toru rā pea ngā rangatira e āta wānanga ana i te tuhinga, engari ka tonoa ia kia hoki ake i te 6 o Pepuere, i te mea e whāwhai ana ngā rangatira ki te hoki. I taua wā, ka hainahia te Tiriti e ētahi rangatira āhua 40 nei. Kātahi ka haria ki Waimate ki te Raki, ā, atu i reira ki tētahi hui nui i te Hokianga, ā, ka tāpiria ōna anō waitohu whakaae i reira. Ehara i te mea ko Waitangi anahe te wāhi i hainahia ai te Tiriti. I kawea haeretia ki ōna anō tōpito o te motu. Nō te 17 Pepuere ka tāia ētahi kape e rua rau o te Tiriti. Ka tū he hui nui ki Waitematā i te tīmatanga o Maehe, ka kohia ētahi atu waitohu whakaae i reira.

Ka tukuna he kape o te tauira Māori me tē tahi whakapākehātanga o tēnei tauira, he mea tuhi anō tēnei e Te Karuwhā.

I te 6 Pepuere, i ētahi rā tata rānei i muri mai, ka tukuna he kape o te tauira Māori me tētahi whakapākehātanga o tēnei tauira, he mea tuhi anō tēnei e Te Karuwhā, ki a Kāwana Gipps i New South Wales. E mau mai ana ngā waitohu o Hopihona me Te Karuwhā ki runga, ka tuhia anō hoki ki runga ngā kupu whakatūturu e whai ake nei (ki te reo Pākehā): “Tēnei au te whakatūturu nei ko te whakapākehātanga o runga ake nei o te Tiriti o Waitangi te mea tino tata e taea ana, inā te āhua o tēnei reo.” (Tari Rekoata Tūmatanui, Rānana, CO 209/7, 13-15). Riro ana ko tēnei whakapākehātanga o ngā kupu Māori o te Tiriti te tauira Pākehā whaimana o te Tiriti.

He tokomaha ngā karu hītori e kī ana he mea waihanga te Tiriti i runga i te pōnānā, e ngā tāngata kāore noa iho i matatau ki tērā mahi. Ko ētahi anō e kī ana he tino taunga a Gipps rāua ko Hopihona ki ērā atu tiriti i hainahia e Ingarangi me ētahi o ngā tāngata whenua i Āwherika me Āhia. E kī ana anō rātou kei wareware ngā tohutohu a Lord Normanby, he mea āta tuhituhi mārire ērā hei ārahi i a Hopihona, he whāiti anō ngā kōrero o roto mō ngā mahi hoko whenua. Ki tā rātou, i mōhio tonu a Hopihona me ana kaitohutohu e aha ana rātou i a rātou ka tuhi i ngā kōrero ake o te Tiriti (ki te reo Pākehā). Waihoki, ko ētahi anō e kī ana kāore e tino tika ana te kī i whakamāoritia te Tiriti i runga i te pōnānā. Ki tā rātou, ahakoa i oti i te pō kotahi, i mahia e tētahi tokorua i āhua matatau tonu ki te reo Māori. Arā ētahi karu hītori e mea ana me āta tirotiro anō ko te momo reo Māori i whakamahia e ngā mihingare i ērā wā, kei reira kē pea ētahi tīwhiri mō te tikanga o ētahi o ngā kupu matua. Heoi anō, ahakoa pēhea te titiro, he pono te kōrero i oti katoa ngā mahi tuhituhi, whakamāori i te Tiriti, tae atu ki te hainatanga i te 6 Pepuere 1840, i roto i ngā rā torutoru noa iho nei.

Kāore i tuhia te Tiriti i runga i te whakaaro kei a ia ngā tohutohu katoa mō te huringa o Aotearoa hei koroni i ngā tau kei te heke iho.

I pau tētahi wāhanga nui o te pō o te 5 Pepuere i a Te Karuwhā me ngā rangatira e āta whakawhiti kōrero ana mō te Tiriti me ngā hua ka puta ina whakaaetia. Ki tā ētahi karu hītori, mēnā i whakapono a Te Karuwhā, i runga i te āhua o aua kōrero, kāore te tauira Māori i paku whakaata i ngā whāinga a Ingarangi, tērā kua tono ia kia mahia ētahi whakatikatika i mua i te hainatanga. Engari kāore kau kē ia i pērā. Arā ētahi atu e mea ana tērā pea i whai tonu a Te Karuwhā kia arero-rua ētahi o ngā kupu, kia whakaaetia ai te Tiriti e ngā Māori, he whakapono nōna (pērā me te nuinga o ngā mihingare o ērā wā) he painga anō mō te Māori ki te taka a Aotearoa ki raro i te maru o Ingarangi. I ēnei rā, e arohia nuitia ana ko ngā rerekētanga i waenga i te tauira Pākehā me te tauira Māori o te Tiriti. E tino hāngai ana tēnei kōrero ki te tikanga o te kupu ‘kāwanatanga’ me te ‘rangatiratanga’, ā, i riro i a wai te mana tūturu. Engari i te wā i hainatia ai, kāore i tino kaha te wānanga i ēnei rerekētanga. Tērā pea i aro nuitia kētia ko ngā kōrero ā-waha me ngā whakamārama a Te Karuwhā. Kia maumahara anō kāore i tuhia te Tiriti i runga i te whakaaro kei a ia ngā tohutohu katoa mō te huringa o Aotearoa hei koroni i ngā tau kei te heke iho. Ki tā Ingarangi, he takahanga tōmua noa hei whakawhiti i te mana o ngā rangatira takitahi ki tētahi pūtahi whaimana kotahi. Ka mea ā, ka rongo ngā rangatira, ō rātou iwi, me tauiwi i te pānga o taua mana.

I te 1 Maehe, ka pā te roro ikura ki a Hopihona. Ka tukuna mai e Kāwana Gipps a Meiha Thomas Bunbury ki Aotearoa me tētahi punua ope taua, i tae mai i te 16 Āperira. Ka rere a Bunbury i runga i te Herald, ka tae rawa ki Rakiura i te tonga, he kohikohi waitohu haere te mahi. Hui katoa, e 50 pea ngā hui i tū puta noa i te motu, i ngā marama e whitu mai i te Pepuere ki te Mahuru o te tau 1840.

He nui ake i te 500 ngā rangatira – he wāhine tonu ētahi – i tā i ō rātou waitohu whakaae ki tētahi o ngā tānga e iwa o te Tiriti e toitū tonu ana. E puritia ana, e whakaaturia ana hoki ēnei e Te Whare Tohu Tuhituhinga o Aotearoa, i Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara. I te mea he uaua te wehewehe i ētahi o ngā ingoa, kāore i te āta mōhiotia tokohia rawa ngā rangatira i haina. Ko te tino nuinga o te hunga i haina, i hoatu i ō rātou waitohu ki tētahi o ngā tauira Māori, hāunga anō ētahi rangatira e 39 o Waikato i haina i tētahi tauira reo Pākehā i te Whanga o Manukau me Te Pūaha o Waikato (engari i reira anō pea tētahi tānga reo Māori hei tirotiro mā rātou). He mea haina anō ia tānga o te Tiriti e ōna anō kaitaunaki Pākehā rerekē i tēnā wāhi, i tēnā wāhi.