History has given us the Treaty of Watangi and it is certainly clear
that there is not an agreement of what it actually means.

Leaving aside for the moment the fact that the Treaty is in two languages we can now look at a founding document of the same era. The Americian
consistution which was written in 1777, in English.

It begins with the words, We the people... So who are these people? In 1777
is certainly was not slaves, nor women, or people who did not own land,
people below the age of 21 (30?). To-day it is accepted that it is any
American aged 18 years of age. So the meaning/understanding of those words changed in the last 250 odd years.

Now if you add in the Maori version of the Treaty and the various
understanding of the Maori language and customs there must have been a great deal of misunderstandings.

In the era of colonisation it was advantageous to make peace with the
natives. This was the aim of the Treaty and like many good intentions
through out history it failed. Or maybe one could say worked for a few short years.

The Treaty is part of our history and it should not be forgotten, but trying
to sort out what it means is going to result in failure. Working through the history of the Maori/Pakeha relationship and the treatment the Maori received would be far better of the county's resources.

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