Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Te Tiriti o Waitangi is a written agreement made in 1840 and signed by representatives of The Crown and over 500 Māori rangatira. It is widely thought of as being Aotearoa New Zealand’s founding document. Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson and his secretary James Stuart Freeman created the first draft of the Treaty of Waitangi in English. This was added to significantly by James Busby after Hobson fell ill. The document was then translated to reo Māori by missionary Henry Williams and his son Edward. This reo Māori version - Te Tiriti o Waitangi - was signed at Waitangi on the 6th of February, 1840. The English language draft was lost but another document was later written in English. Differences between the Māori and English texts still cause contention and challenges almost 200 years later.

To learn more about Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the nationwide context, Dunedin Public Libraries provides library members access to the Bridget Williams Books Treaty of Waitangi Collection via our website.

We also have some excellent books on the subject, including:

• An illustrated history of the Treaty of Waitangi

• Treaty of Waitangi : questions and answers 

• The story of a treaty = He Kōrero Tiriti

• Introducing Te Tiriti o Waitangi 

• Understanding Te Tiriti : a handbook of basic facts about Te Tiriti o Waitangi

• The Treaty of Waitangi: Te Tiriti o Waitangi

View a full list of publications about Te Tiriti o Waitangi on our catalogue here.

There are many online resources with information about Te Tiriti o Waitangi. 

Go to Archives New Zealand to view the original Tiriti o Waitangi documents 

You can read the texts and a contemporary translation of the Māori text on the Waitangi Tribunal website.

More useful links:

• Archives NZ - Treaty of Waitangi 

• National Library - Te Tiriti o Waitangi

• Treaty Resource Centre – He Puna Mātauranga o Te Tiriti

• Nzonscreen - Waitangi collection 

• Resources - Network Waitangi Otautahi