Ngai Tahu Land Report

04 The Treaty and Treaty Principles

4.2 Ngai Tahu Accession to the Treaty

4.2.1 Hobson had previously visited New Zealand in the 1830s. When he received his instructions of 14 August 1839 from Lord Normanby, the colonial secretary, requiring him to negotiate with Maori as a sovereign and independent state, he immediately sought further directions. In his letter to the Colonial Office he expressed the view that the development of the inhabitants of the North and South Islands was "essentially different" and that "with the wild savages in the Southern Islands, it appears scarcely possible to observe even the form of a Treaty". He suggested that he might be permitted to claim the south by right of discovery (A8:1).{FNREF|0-86472-060-2|4.2.1|2} Lord Normanby, in his reply of 15 August 1839, said that if, as Hobson supposed, South Island Maori were incapable "from their ignorance of entering intelligently into any Treaty with the Crown" then he might assert sovereignty on the grounds of discovery (A8:1).{FNREF|0-86472-060-2|4.2.1|3} This, as we have seen, he duly did on 21 May. But, as Major Bunbury was to find, Hobson's preconceptions were wide of the mark. Ngai Tahu leaders were quite capable of making a meaningful adherence to the Treaty.

4.2.2 Hobson, who became seriously incapacitated in March 1840, sent a number of emissaries throughout the North Island to obtain further signatures to the Treaty. Governor Gipps of New South Wales, hearing of Hobson's illness sent Major Thomas Bunbury to the Bay of Islands in April 1840. Gipps urged that prompt steps be taken to extend Crown authority over the South Island. Accordingly, Hobson on 28 April 1840, ordered Bunbury to sail in the Herald to negotiate with some North Island chiefs and to then proceed to the southern islands.{FNREF|0-86472-060-2|4.2.2|4} He was accompanied by Edward Williams, the son of Henry Williams, as his interpreter. At Akaroa on 30 May 1840, Bunbury secured the signatures of John Tikao and Iwikau, a brother of Tamaiharanui who was the paramount chief captured by Te Rauparaha. Later, finding no one at Stewart Island (although he failed to visit the Ngai Tahu settlement at Paterson Inlet) Bunbury and Nias, the captain of the Herald, made a declaration of sovereignty over the island basing the claim on James Cook's discovery. From there they proceeded to Ruapuke Island where on 10 June 1840 the leading chief Tuhawaiki signed the Treaty. Tuhawaiki was an enterprising Ngai Tahu leader, highly intelligent and with a reasonable knowledge of the English language. He had travelled several times to Sydney and was engaged in the whaling industry on his own account. Two other Ngai Tahu chiefs also signed at Ruapuke Island-Kaikoura (the principal chief from the northern area of that name) and Taiaroa, but there is doubt about the identity of the latter.{FNREF|0-86472-060-2|4.2.2|5} He was certainly not the leading Ngai Tahu chief Matenga Taiaroa. Bunbury had been anxious to obtain Matenga Taiaroa's signature but the chief was away at Moeraki. At the Otago harbour entrance Bunbury on 13 June further gained the adherence of the Ngai Tahu chiefs Koroko and Karetai. Bunbury then sailed north and at Cloudy Bay on 17 June 1840 some nine chiefs signed, including one Kaikoura. It is thought this was a lesser chief than the Kaikoura who had signed at Ruapuke. There followed a formal ceremony at which Bunbury read a proclamation of sovereignty after which the Royal salute of 21 guns was fired. It is apparent from Major Bunbury's report of 28 June 1840 to Governor Hobson that he was very favourably impressed by the South Island Maori whom he had met, many of whom he found to have some facility with English. It is clear that Hobson had been seriously misinformed about the capacity and understanding of southern Maori.

Ngai Tahu understandably reject the notion that Te Wai Pounamu was "discovered" and that the Crown's claim to sovereignty over the island can legitimately rest upon such a ground. On the contrary, Ngai Tahu place great reliance on the fact that a number of their leading chiefs readily signed the Treaty of Waitangi. Not surprisingly, they reject suggestions, which even today are adduced, that the Treaty was of no significance in the South Island.

French interest in New Zealand

4.2.3 In the event, Major Bunbury's initiative in securing the adherence of influential Ngai Tahu and other South Island chiefs to the Treaty, and his subsequent public proclamation of sovereignty at Cloudy Bay, played a critical role in forestalling an attempt by the French to obtain sovereignty over Banks Peninsula and possibly much of the South Island. On 11 July 1840 the French corvette L'Aube of 22 guns and 160 men arrived at the Bay of Islands on its way to support a party of French immigrants shortly to arrive at Akaroa to establish a colony. Captain Lavaud, who called on Hobson soon after his arrival, refused to recognise Hobson's status as lieutenant-governor, or indeed British sovereignty over New Zealand. A stalemate ensued. On 23 July 1840, Hobson despatched Captain Stanley on the Herald to proceed without delay to Akaroa. Accompanying Captain Stanley's instructions from the lieutenant-governor was a copy of Major Bunbury's South Island Cloudy Bay proclamation. Hobson instructed Stanley that independently of the assumption of sovereignty of the South Island by his proclamation of 21 May, the principal chiefs had ceded their rights to the Queen. Because of Bunbury's proclamation, Hobson said, no further proceedings by Stanley would be necessary. As an added measure, Hobson arranged for two magistrates to accompany Stanley and on their arrival they were to hold a court at each port as an act of civil authority.

The day following Captain Stanley's departure to Akaroa Captain Lavaud, in ignorance of Bunbury's proclamation, wrote to the French colonial and maritime minister urging negotiations with the British to repudiate Hobson's May proclamation claiming sovereignty of the South Island on the grounds of discovery. Further, he advised that if the British government had not yet obtained the signatures of the Banks Peninsula chiefs recognising British sovereignty, he would attempt to persuade them to retain their sovereignty under the patronage of the French nation and its government.

Captain Stanley arrived in Akaroa on the Herald shortly before Lavaud and formally took possession. The magistrates duly held formal court hearings. It is clear that Bunbury's action in obtaining the adherence of Ngai Tahu and other South Island chiefs and his proclamation of sovereignty effectively forestalled Lavaud's initiatives and provided Hobson with a persuasive answer to incipient French claims.