United Tribes of New Zealand

Origins

The British Resident, James Busby, encouraged northern chiefs to choose a national flag in 1834 so that New Zealand-built ships could be registered. In 1835, alarmed by the French adventurer Charles de Thierry's claim to sovereignty, Busby gathered 34 chiefs at Waitangi to sign He Whakaputanga, the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand, on 28 October.

Rule and society

The declaration vested sovereign power in the hereditary chiefs collectively and proposed an annual congress at Waitangi to make laws, with Britain asked to act as protector. The congress never met, and the confederation existed mainly on paper and in its flag. By 1839 the number of signatories had grown to 52, including the Waikato chief Te Wherowhero.

Decline and legacy

Britain, which had acknowledged the declaration, negotiated the Treaty of Waitangi with the chiefs in 1840 and established the Colony of New Zealand. Whether the treaty transferred the sovereignty the declaration asserted remains central to debate in New Zealand.