In part in response to these escalating tensions, and in part due to a formalising of the colonisation intent, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 between the British government and about 540 Māori tribal leaders. There are two versions of the Treaty - one in Te Reo Māori, Te Tiriti o Waitangi - and the other in English.
And, there are significant differences in meaning between the two versions. These differences have left us in Aotearoa almost 200 years on debating the implications. In Te Reo Māori, Te Tiriti o Waitangi can be seen as the founding document of New Zealand, and unique in the world as a way of setting out the relationship between an indigenous people and the colonisers.