Te Tiriti ki Te Tairāwhiti
Sat, 24 May
|Tairawhiti Museum
This exhibition is a brief look at the journey taken by the East Coast sheet of the treaty, from Manutuke in the south to Rangitukia in the north.
Time & Location
24 May 2025, 10:00 am – 10 Aug 2025, 4:00 pm
Tairawhiti Museum , 10 Stout Street, Whataupoko, Gisborne 4010, New Zealand
About the event
When Henry Williams arrived in Tūranga from the Bay of Islands on 8 April 1840, he brought with him two handwritten copies of the Treaty of Waitangi, both in te reo Māori. One of these copies was taken on to the Wellington region, while the other remained in Tūranga with his brother, William Williams.
On 5 May, William recorded in his journal that, following discussions about the treaty, there was general approval of its intent. Three days later, he reported to Willoughby Shortland that it had been signed by leading figures in the region, adding that he had "no doubt but that all the rest will follow their example."
William then took the treaty with him as he travelled up the East Coast in the course of his work with the Church Missionary Society. Over the following month, an additional 17 chiefs signed what is now known as the East…