<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Declaration of Independence of the Northern Chiefs </Td> </Tr> <P> The Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand (Māori: He Wakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni), signed by a number of Māori chiefs in 1835, proclaimed the sovereign independence of New Zealand prior to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 . </P> <P> In 1834, James Busby, the official British Resident in New Zealand, drafted a document known as the Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand, which he and 34 northern Māori chiefs--including Tāmati Wāka Nene, Tītore and Bay of Islands brothers; Te Wharerahi, Rewa, and Moka Te Kainga - mataa--signed at Waitangi on 28 October 1835 . By 1839, 52 chiefs had signed . </P> <P> In the process of signing, the chiefs established themselves as representing a confederation under the title of the "United Tribes of New Zealand". Missionaries Henry Williams and George Clarke translated the Declaration and signed as witnesses; merchants James Clendon and Gilbert Mair also signed as witnesses . </P>

How many chiefs signed the declaration of independence