Essay: The Treaty of Waitangi, Colonization, and Early Childhood

This essay examines the Treaty of Waitangi, signed in 1840 between the British Crown and Maori chiefs, outlining its historical context, including British objectives and Maori motivations. The essay discusses the concept of colonization, exploring its implications on indigenous populations, and the impact of colonization on the Maori people. The essay further explores the treaty's relevance for aspiring early childhood teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand, emphasizing its role in shaping education, promoting Maori language and culture, and guiding teaching practices. The essay highlights the importance of understanding the treaty for upholding the rights and partnership between Maori and non-Maori in educational settings. It also highlights the responsibilities that early childhood teachers have in implementing the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in their practice.

Running head: THE TREATY OF WAITANGI
The Treaty of Waitangi
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Question 1: The Treaty of Waitangi
a) Outline the context in which the Treaty of Waitangi was signed.
The treaty of Waitangi was signed was signed on the 6th day of February in the year
1840. The date mentioned signifies the first time for the treaty to be signed. The treaty which
involved representatives of the British Crown and more than 500 chiefs from Maori was
signed at a place called Waitangi (just as the name of the treaty) in the Bay of Islands in New
Zealand (Johnston, 2011). William Hobson was the lieutenant governor at the time. He was
the one who had received instruction to establish sovereignty of the Britain government in
New Zealand. He represented the British crown in the treaty (Johnston, 2013).
There are several reasons why the British crown wanted to establish a treaty with the
Maori. British wanted New Zealand to become a part of its jurisdiction areas. For that process
to occur smoothly, there was need to sign a treaty with the Maori before other major
European countries such as France and Germany did. This was one of the motivating factors.
There were also some British whalers who were breaking British law in New Zealand. When
questioned, they said that the British law did not apply to New Zealand. Since the
missionaries considered this a great disrespect to the crown, they advocated for a treaty to
have British law established in the country. The third reason was that British wanted to utilize
natural resources and buy land for settlement in New Zealand. To do this without resistance,
it was necessary that they form a treaty. In a nutshell, these were the main reasons why the
British crown wanted a treaty with the Maori.
The treaty was presented to Maori chiefs for the first time on the 5th day of February
in the year 1840. It was presented to more than 500 chiefs. On the 6th of February 1840 more
than 40b chiefs signed the treaty. At the end of the whole process of treaty dissemination and
translation, over 500 chiefs signed the treaty. There were two versions of the treaty: one
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written in Maori language and an English translation. Most of the chiefs signed the one
written in Maori with only 39 of the chiefs signing the English translation. According to
Tribunal (2010), some differences have been found to exist between the two versions.
There were several reasons why the Maori signed the treaty. First, they wanted to help
stop trouble being caused by some British who lived in the country (Xuefei, 2018). Signing
the treaty would establish British law and help curb any form of lawlessness. Secondly, the
chiefs would have control over their tribes. Total power and authority would not go to the
British. Thirdly, the missionaries advised the chiefs to be party to the treaty. Thirdly, as it was
likely to bring long lasting peace and stability to New Zealand with the establishment of
British law and order. Fourth, the chiefs saw it as an opportunity to eliminate land deals with
British traders who they termed as greedy. The traders would be controlled by the law
stopping any illegal dealing. Fifth and lastly, Britain was a major power and having a treaty
with them would mean protection for the Maori. It would also mean improved trade between
the two countries. Additionally, they would be protected from France and other countries
such as Germany.
The treaty has three main articles. In the English version, the Maori would
surrender/give up their sovereignty of New Zealand to Britain. The English version also
indicates that the Maori gives the British absolute rights to buy the lands that they would like
and in return have full rights of ownership of their lands and other possessions (Hayward and
Wheen, 2015). The English version further outlines that the Maori would enjoy the same
privileges and rights as the British subjects. There seems to have been some inconsistencies
between the English and Maori versions (State Services Commission, 2005). For instance, in
the Maori version the word sovereignty was presented as ‘katakana’ which means
governance. Some of the Maori also thought that the British crown would only have control
over British subjects. The English version guaranteed possession of all properties without any
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disturbance while the Maori version provided for ‘Tino rangatiratanga’ which means
complete authority over their possessions. According to Orange (2015), most of the chiefs
signed the Maori version of the treaty agreeing to it specifically.
b) Outline your understanding of colonization
According to Orange (2015), colonisation implies taking control over the original
inhabitants of an area by exerting new authority. Most of communities and people
groups have some form of leadership and governance such as chiefdoms or kingdoms.
To exert new rule and authority, it would mean that there must be some form of
strategy used to take care of the existing authority. For instance, the external party
who wants to exert new rule may use peaceful methods such as forming treaties. In
other instances, force can be used to exert control. Most of colonisation attempts in
the past were met with great resistance leading to fights and loss of lives. Any
coloniser has some aims and objectives. It could be that they want some additional
land to settle their population, could be the country is endowed with natural minerals
and resources or could be just for prestige. It could also be a combination of some or
all these factors.
Colonisation may have negative effects on the persons originally occupying the
region/country. One, they lose most of the authority and privileges to the colonising
power. While there could also be some positives that come about with colonisation, I
consider it having a major disadvantage, that is, despite colonising the physical
person, it colonises the mind too. Here is the explanation. Most of the regions that
have been colonised have found it a hard task to develop. Most are third world
countries. It seems as if the colonisers made them believe that they are a weak crop of
people and they cannot be able to make any major development. They were mainly
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used for manual work. It seems as if they believed this many years after end of
colonial rule, there are still great challenges. These challenges include poverty and
inadequate healthcare services.
c) Explain why the Treaty of Waitangi is relevant for you as an aspiring early
childhood teacher in Aotearoa New Zealand today.
The Treaty of Waitangi serves as the document under which Aotearoa New Zealand was
founded (Palmer, 2008). The treaty acts as a guide when it comes to education in terms of
participation, partnership and power for the persons who are Maori (tangata whenua) and
others who are not Maori as signatories to the treaty (Wilson, 2017). The treaty provides a
perfect ground for encouraging and promoting the language and culture of the Maori. The
services of early childhood are mandated to provide a curriculum that appreciates and
recognizes the unique place of the Maori as thangata whenua. According to Council (2015)
such a curriculum should also ensure that it offers the children with concrete knowledge
regarding the culture of the two parties of the treaty. Culture and heritage are very important
aspects of education. Glynn (2015) argues that when children are educated about this early in
life, they are likely to have a great understanding through life.
With these observations, the Treaty of Waitangi has plays a very significant role in the duty
of early childhood teacher. As a young aspiring teacher, it would be very important that I
familiarize myself very well with the treaty as it is going to guide my operations. As Spodek
and Saracho (2014) argues that to be an effective teacher, it is necessary to respect the rules,
laws and measures put in place by the bodies of governance. Since the treaty of Waitangi
includes some roles of a teacher, it is necessary to understand it. There should be no any form
of discrimination between the two parties of the treaty (United Nations. General Assembly,
2007).
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References
Council, E. (2015). practising teacher criteria. Wellington: Education Council New Zealand.
Glynn, T. (2015). Bicultural challenges for educational professionals in Aotearoa. Waikato
Journal of Education, 20(3).
Hayward, J., & Wheen, N. (Eds.). (2015). Treaty of Waitangi settlements. Bridget Williams
Books.
Johnston, K. (2011). Treaty of Waitangi. NZL Rev., 211.
Johnston, K. (2013). Treaty of Waitangi. NZ Law Review, 2013, 159-689.
Orange, C. (2015). An illustrated history of the Treaty of Waitangi. Bridget Williams Books.
Orange, C. (2015). The treaty of Waitangi. Bridget Williams Books.
Palmer, M. S. (2008). The Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand's law and constitution.
Spodek, B., & Saracho, O. N. (2014). Handbook of research on the education of young
children. Routledge.
State Services Commission. (2005). All about the Treaty. Wellington: State Services
Commission.
Tribunal, W. (2010). The treaty of Waitangi. online:< www. waitangi-tribunal. govt.
nz/treaty.
United Nations. General Assembly. (2007). United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples. United Nations Department of Public Information.
Wilson, K. (2017). The Treaty of Waitangi: Preparing beginning teachers to meet the
expectations of the new professional standards. Waikato Journal of Education, 8(1).
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Xuefei, W. (2018). Treaty of Waitangi. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 5(2).
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