Waitangi, Treaty of

Treaty negotiated in New Zealand in 1840 between the British government and the indigenous Maori. The treaty guaranteed the Maori their own territory and gave them British citizenship. The British claimed sovereignty over the territory and the treaty is seen as the establishment of modern New Zealand.

The Waitangi Tribunal was set up in 1975 to listen to Maori grievances. In December 1994 the New Zealand government announced a ‘Settlement Envelope’ of $NZ one billion, for the settlement of claims. Most Maori rejected the settlement, although in early 1998 the Ngai Tahu, a Maori tribe, received a compensation package worth $A152 million as part of the ‘Envelope’, in the form of cash, assets, and land. Among the land returned to the Ngai Tahu was Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain.