Māngungu Mission and Te Tiriti o Waitangi
Words
New Zealand History – Ngā kōrero a ipurangi o Aotearoa
Kei runga ake te Mīhana o Māngungu i te Hokianga, koia hoki te wāhi nui tuatoru i hainatia ai Te Tiriti o Waitangi. I konei i te 12 o Pēpuere 1940, i tāpiritia ētahi waitohu 64 ki te Whārangi o Waitangi o Te Tiriti. I reira i taua rā ētahi mano tāngata Māori, hei kanohi mō ngā hapū huhua o Ngāpuhi.
E ai ki ngā tuhinga a ngā tāngata i tae ā-tinana ake ki te hui i Te Māngungu, he maha ngā reo hakahē i Te Tiriti. Ka tū a Rūtene-Kāwana Wiremu Hōpihana ki te whakamārama i te Tiriti, me te noho tata mai a te mihingare a John Hobbs, ki te whakareomāori i ngā kōrero, i muri, i pau ngā hāora o te rā i te whakawhiti kōrero. I puta ētahi āwangawanga mō te mana o te Kāwana me te pupuru whenua, e ai ki tētahi kaituhi tātai kōrero, i kī a Pāpāhia mō Hōpihana: 'Kia noho tiketike rawa ia, kia tū i runga rawa, pēnei i Maungataniwha, kia noho tātou ki te papa tonu; hei pukepuke iti. Kore, kore, kāhore rawa! Kia taurite tonu tātou; nō hea i tika kia tiketike tētahi o ngā puke, kia pāpaku tētahi?'
E ai ki ngā kōrero i kī taurangi a Hōpihana, kore rawa te whenua e tangohia i runga i te ringa raupatu, ā, ka mahi te kāwanatanga I runga i te pono, i te tika i ngā wā katoa.
Ahakoa i puta he reo whakahē ki te Tiriti, ko te nuinga i waitohu i Māngungu i ū ki ōna ritenga i muri.
I ēnei rā, ahakoa tōtōkau te hanga o te whare o te Mīhana o Māngungu, he wāhi mana nui, inā hoki, i konei te mana, te tapu ki te waitohu i te pukapuka taketake o tēnei whenua. I whakatūria a Māngungu i te tau 1828 hei Whare Mīhana Wēteriana, ā, i hangaia te whare i te tau 1838-1839 mō te Minita nei mō Nathaniel Turner. Ka hui te iwi i reira ia tau ki te whakamaumahara i te huihuinga me te hainatanga o te Tiriti hei te 12 Pēpuere – me te rērere o ngā whakaaro, rite tonu ki te tau 1840.
I roto i ngā tau kua huri haere te whare mīhana i te motu, rite tonu ki ngā momo e iwa o Te Tiriti. I te tau 1855 i kawea ki Onehunga, ki Tāmaki-makau-rau, ā, ka noho i reira mō te rau tau, neke atu, kātahi ka whakahokia ki Māngungu i te ngahuru tau mai i 1970. I ēnei rā, e tiakina ana tēnei mīhana Kāwai 1 e Te Pouhere Taonga Heritage New Zealand.
Kia mōhio: E whakanui ana a Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga i te kaituhi o te nuinga o ēnei kōrero: New Zealand History – Ngā kōrero a ipurangi o Aotearoa.
Overlooking Hokianga Harbour, Māngungu Mission in Northland was the site of the third signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It was here, on 12 February 1840, where 64 signatures were added to The Waitangi Sheet of Te Tiriti. Several thousand Māori in attendance represented many different hapū within Ngāpuhi.
First-hand accounts of the day at Māngungu detail strong opposition to Te Tiriti. Following Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson, with missionary John Hobbs translating, explaining Te Tiriti, discussions went on for much of the day. Concerns were expressed over the power of the governor and the security of the land, with one historian recounting comment Pāpāhia said of Hobson: ‘He to be high, very high, like Maungataniwha and we low on the ground; nothing but little hills. No, no, no! Let us be equal; why should one hill be high and another low?’
Hobson was reported to have promised that land would never be forcibly taken and the government would always act with truth and justice.
While there was opposition to Te Tiriti, those who signed at Māngungu were later the most faithful to it.
Today, Māngungu Mission’s simple build belies its significance as a witness to this country’s founding document. Māngungu was established in 1828 as a Wesleyan Mission Station, with the property built in 1838-1839 for the Reverend Nathaniel Turner. Each year the Tiriti gathering and signing is commemorated on 12 February – often sparking as much debate as in 1840.
Over the years the mission house has travelled around the country, much as the nine versions of Te Tiriti. In 1855 it was transported to Onehunga, Auckland, spending more than a century away before being returned to the Māngungu side in the 1970s. Today, the Category 1 listed mission is cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.
Note: Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga acknowledges the author of much of this text: New Zealand History – Ngā kōrero a ipurangi o Aotearoa.
