Since the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by Maori chiefs and Governor Hobson in 1840 it has become the defining document in New Zealand history. From the New Zealand Wars to the 1975 Land March, from the Kingitanga to the Waitangi Tribunal, from Captain Cook to Hone Harawira, The Treaty of Waitangi Companion tells the story of the Treaty and Maori and Pakeha relations through the many voices of those who made this country's history. Sourced from government publications and newspapers, letters and diaries, poems, paintings and cartoons, the Companion brings to life the long history of debates about the Treaty and life in Aotearoa. Was the Treaty a Maori Magna Carta or a fraud? A blueprint for partnership or an instrument of annexation and dispossession? In the Treaty of Waitangi Companion we hear Maori and Pakeha wrestling with those issues, including King Tawhiao's frustrated pleas to colonial politicians, Te Whiti's message of peace and Sir William Martin's appeals against the injustice of confiscation.
The Treaty of Waitangi Companion is an invaluable book for students, from high school to postgraduate, and general readers who want to get directly to the heart of New Zealand history.