The Treaty of Waitangi

It was not until after the Treaty of Waitangi was signed with Maori in 1840 that significant numbers of Europeans arrived in what is now modern day Auckland. Apihai Te Kawau, by then paramount chief of Ngati Whatua and Tamaki (Auckland), could see the inherent advantages in welcoming the fledgling colonial government to the area. Attracting the British Crown's representatives meant many things: trade opportunities, access to valuable new technologies, as well as protection from the muskets of the tribe's rivals, Nga Puhi.

So in 1840, Apihai Te Kawau sent a deputation to Kororareka (New Zealand’s first capital, later renamed Russell) to invite the governor, Captain William Hobson, to establish his colonial administration in Tamaki.

A 3000 acre, wedge shaped block of land stretching from modern day Cox’s Creek to the summit of Maungawhau (Mt Eden) and out to Point Britomart was offered by Ngati Whatua as a gesture of goodwill, with the promise of an additional 8000 acres if Hobson did indeed relocate to Tamaki.

It is here that misunderstandings between Maori and the settlers (Pakeha) began. Hobson wished to 'buy' the land, and thought by the giving of goods and money he had. For Maori, the concept of 'buying' land was unknown, as were those of land titles and individual ownership. For Maori, as for many indigenous peoples around the world, people were part of the land and it was not a commodity that could be bought or sold. In Maori minds, people could not possess land, land possessed them – it was the means of building and maintaining relationships. Ngati Whatua saw the giving of the goods and money as gifts (koha), tokens of good faith.

The Planting of the Flag

Treaty of Waitangi And so it was that on 18 September 1840, a blustery spring day, Captain Hobson and his government party of 12 planted the British flag and celebrated the founding of the new town which Hobson named Auckland.

Sarah Mathew, wife of the chief surveyor, Felton Mathew, spoke of the flag planting ceremony in her diary: Once the Ngati Whatua chiefs had signed the provisional deed of sale, the 'ceremony of taking formal possession in the name of Her Majesty was duly performed'. This was followed by a 21 gun royal salute. At this point, 'Her Majesty's health was most rapturously drunk' and the toast was accompanied by three hearty cheers.

The spot where the flag was raised was named Point Britomart. It was located at roughly the site where today Anzac Avenue meets Custom Street. Perhaps it says something about Auckland that within 40 years the promontory was excavated and the earth used in reclamation work at the bottom of modern day Queen St.

Misunderstandings between Maori and the settlers continued, and it was not until the 1970s that they were revisited and the reconciliation process began. These issues continue to be addressed today.