Author: Michael Bassett

OPINION: Michael Bassett. If you are watching the bizarre goings on at Waitangi, keep an eye out for which politicians use the term “The Treaty”, and which refer to what was signed on 6 February 1840 as “Te Tiriti”. The Treaty is the term that was used originally, and it described a three-clause document that ceded sovereignty over New Zealand for ever to Queen Victoria. In return, the Queen guaranteed Maori chiefs control over their lands and “taonga”, and in the third clause guaranteed Maori the same “rights and duties” as were enjoyed at that time by Englishmen. The Treaty…