Why did Maori Chiefs sign the Treaty?

Why Did the Chiefs Sign The Treaty In 1840? Yesterday I was talking with a good friend and she asked me the question “Why Did the Chiefs Sign The Treaty In 1840?” She said she had other friends asking the same question, and in a round about way, asked me if I could answer this question in a blog post. So here goes. There were two main reasons Maori wanted a Treaty, which I will detail one at a time. First, Maori feared the French and wanted British protection from them. In October 1831 a missionary named William Yate drafted a letter for chiefs to send to King William IV of England asking for protection against the French. Why? What had happened? In 1772 French explorer Marion du Fresne visited New Zealand. He and 26 of his crew were attacked and eaten by Maori. The French retaliated and killed 250 Maori. This killing of Maori left a lasting impression. Historian Bruce Moon writes “Maoris knew that the French had not forgotten the Marion du Fresne affair - they still referred to the French as ‘The tribe of Marion’.”1 Then in May 1833 James Busby (left) was appointed by the British as “British Resident” in New Zealand. The term “British Resident” meant something in the order of the King’s official representative, much like an ambassador. His brief was to “protect settlers and traders, prevent ‘outrages’ by Europeans against Māori, and apprehend escaped convicts.” Busby believed that a French explorer Baron De Thierry was part of a French plot to annex New Zealand. By the time February 6th 1840 came around, it was not just Maori thinking the French were coming, but Busby was thinking the same. Second, by 1840 the world of Maori was falling apart, and they cried out to the British for help. Maori tribes had always been at war with each other. But when the British arrived, so too did a western killing machine, the musket. When Maori obtained muskets, their warfare and killing of each other went to whole new levels. This was Maori killing Maori, not the British killing Maori. We need to be clear about this. Historian Dr John Robinson writes “The fighting peaked in the five years from 1820 to 1825, but remained at a high level through the 1830s. According to the historian James Rutherford, there has been 506 significant battles and 36,500 casualties between 1800 and 1830. From 1831 - 1840, there were a further 96 significant battles and 7,100 casualties. Around one third of the Maori population perished in just forty years.”2 “From 1800 to 1840, up to 50,000 people had been killed.”3 1 Moon, Bruce. Twisting The Treaty. A Tribal Grab For Wealth And Power. Tross Publishing. 2013. p 29 2 Robinson, John. Twisting The Treaty. A Tribal Grab For Wealth And Power. Tross Publishing. 2013. p 18 3 Butler, Mike. The Treaty Basic Facts. Tross Publishing. 2021. p.25