<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Treaty of Waitangi at Wikisource </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> www.treatyofwaitangi.govt.nz </Td> </Tr> <P> The Treaty of Waitangi (Māori: Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a treaty first signed on 6 February 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and Māori chiefs (Rangatira) from the North Island of New Zealand . It is a document of central importance to the history and political constitution of the state of New Zealand, and has been highly significant in framing the political relations between New Zealand's government and the Māori population . </P> <P> The Treaty was written at a time when British colonists were pressuring the Crown to establish a colony in New Zealand, and when some Māori leaders had petitioned the British for protection against French forces . It was drafted with the intention of establishing a British Governor of New Zealand, recognising Māori ownership of their lands, forests and other possessions, and giving Māori the rights of British subjects . It was intended to ensure that when the declaration of British sovereignty over New Zealand was made by Lieutenant Governor William Hobson in May 1840, the Māori people would not feel that their rights had been ignored . Once it had been written and translated, it was first signed by Northern Māori leaders at Waitangi, and subsequently copies of the Treaty were taken around New Zealand and over the following months many other chiefs signed . Around 530 to 540 Māori, at least 13 of them women, signed the Treaty of Waitangi, despite some Māori leaders cautioning against it . An immediate result of the Treaty was that Queen Victoria's government gained the sole right to purchase land . In total there are nine signed copies of the Treaty of Waitangi including the sheet signed on 6 February 1840 at Waitangi . </P>

Who was the treaty of waitangi signed by