How was the English text of the Treaty of Waitangi understood in 1840, and why does that understanding matter now?
Ned Fletcher’s The English Text of the Treaty of Waitangi, published in 2022, is a landmark study of more than 700 pages that won the Ockham New Zealand Book Award for General Non-Fiction and changed the terms of discussion about the Treaty. This short book brings that research to a wider readership.
Fletcher sets out the origins of the English text: who drafted it, what they intended by it and how the imperial world around them shaped it. At the centre is his argument that the English and Māori texts reconcile. Those who framed the Treaty expected Māori to keep authority over their own affairs and ownership of their lands, alongside British government. Within a few years that understanding was eroded, as imperial policy shifted and settler pressure grew.
Drawing on the same archival research as the larger book, this introduction is a reliable starting point for anyone wanting to understand the founding document of Aotearoa New Zealand.