He Whakaputanga and te Tiriti o Waitangi

Whose hand was it that crafted these words

Visual
A watercolour-style minimalist animation of a person seated at a white table on a piece of land jutting out to sea. A group of men appear, some wearing brown and cream korowai and others wearing trousers, waistcoats and hats. Italic handwriting reads ‘Waitangi, October 1835’.

Audio
October 1835. 34 rangatira gather at Waitangi. They have come to agree and sign He Whakaputanga to claim their position as tangata whenua and manage the growing number of European settlers. But whose hand crafted the words that drew these chiefs together?

Visual
A handwritten document is superimposed on the pastel blue sky, and a hand holding a white feather quill writes out the letters He Whakaputanga.

Audio
But whose hand crafted the words that drew these chiefs together? Eruera Pare Hongi.

Visual
Eruera sits with quill in hand, a korowai fastened over his black suit and white shirt. A flashback to a lifeless bearded man, wearing a piupiu, falling backwards as a battle rages behind him.

Audio
A baby when his father died in battle, Eruera was adopted by the legendary chief Hongi Hika.

Visual
Beneath a cream and pink sky, Hongi cradles baby Eruera in one arm and holds a book in the other.

Audio
Hongi foresaw the need for Eruera to learn the skills that he and his people would need, and so Eruera’s elders sent him to Sydney to learn to read and write.

Visual
A two-masted ship rocks on a blue ocean.

Audio
So great was his talent, his people chose him to work with James Busby to co-write He Whakaputanga, the declaration of Māori sovereignty over the land in alliance with the British King.

Visual
Flashing forward, the adult Eruera sits in front of documents on a table lit by candlelight. He looks to James, who leans over the table next to him.

Audio
So it was at the hand of a talented young Māori man who shaped the document that brought these chiefs together.

Visual
An aerial view of rangatira gathering to sign the declaration. The original handwritten document is superimposed over the top, its paper yellowed and torn at the edges.

Audio
Without He Whakaputanga, there may never have been a Treaty of Waitangi. Come and find out more at He Tohu.

Visual
The turquoise, orange and purple painted logo of He Tohu. A declaration, a treaty, a petition. Hashtag He Tohu. National Library, Wellington. (No documents of national importance were harmed in the making of the animation.) The logo for the New Zealand Government.

The voyages of te Tiriti o Waitangi

See the voyage of the 9 sheets of the Treaty over 8 months in 1840 across New Zealand. The sheets went to 45 locations and gathered 542 signatures.

This animation is from the map table at the He Tohu exhibition.
The map table is a 3D canvas that stories are projected onto from above. Find out more at https://natlib.govt.nz/he-tohu

He Tohu is presented by Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga and the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, both of which are part of the Department of Internal Affairs.