Ian Bradford: 50 Years of Settlements Using a Fake Treaty

Captain William Hobson was sent to NZ to form a treaty with the natives. The Maori requested it because they were sick of the killing of each other, slavery and cannibalism. They were also afraid of the French. 

The Treaty was prepared with the co-operation of James Busby, J.R. Clendon and two missionaries, Henry Williams and A Brown.  Brown did not seem to have any input. 

James Busby was The British Resident in NZ. James Reddy Clendon was the US Consul on whose paper the final English draft was written.  

Also present was Hobson’s secretary, James Freeman who wrote flowery versions of initial drafts of the treaty, picking bits from several drafts.  These versions were unofficial, but he sent them overseas to Governor Sir George Gipps, who was the Governor of New South Wales. In 1840, NZ was under the jurisdiction of New South Wales. 

The first draft of the treaty was written by William Hobson. It was just a few ideas for a preamble.  The second batch of four pages were written mostly by James Freeman. They contain a second version of the preamble and some raw concepts of three articles. They were written before 1^st Feb 1840. The Third batch of four pages represent Busby’s first attempt at writing articles  When Hobson became ill, Busby took over all duties pertaining to writing the treaty. 

Busby was scheduled to meet with Hobson ashore at Russell on the evening of the 3^rd February 1840, to decide on the final draft wording. The fourth and final draft was four pages consisting of Busby’s earlier rough notes which Hobson severely edited.  This final draft was completed on the afternoon of the 4^th February 1840. It was signed by William Hobson.   The final draft was given to Rev Henry Williams and his son to translate into Maori which they did overnight of the 4^th and 5^th.  Both Henry Williams and his son were well versed in the Maori language, having spent many years among them.  Before it was given to the Williams’, James Clendon sent a copy of the final draft to the USA.

Rev Henry Williams and his son laboured through the night of the 4^th Feb and into the morning of the 5^th,   to have the Maori translation completed in time for their meeting with the chiefs. On the morning of the 5^thHobson and Busby met at Waitangi and made every effort to ensure the translation was correct. The meeting with the chiefs at Waitangi began at midday on the 5^th Feb 1840.   Hobson read the English version and Rev Williams read the Maori translation to the assembled Maori. Everybody seemed satisfied that Rev Williams was representing Hobson’s English text correctly in the Maori Language.  

It is important to note that  Hobson’s Government intended that no English version ever be signed by Maori .  

The chiefs at Waitangi had several days to decide on whether to sign, but in the end they were ready to sign on the next day- the 6^th Feb 1840. About 40 chiefs signed at Waitangi. They signed the Maori version. Copies of the Maori version were then taken around the country for chiefs to sign. Mostly minsters of religion were given the job of getting the signatures.  In the end over 500 chiefs signed the Maori version. 

One of those ministers was Rev Robert Maunsell.  It was his job to collect signatures of Waikato chiefs at Port Waikato.  Maunsell was sent a copy of the Treaty in Maori, but it didn’t arrive in time.  Chiefs were assembled on 11^th April 1840.  Maunsell had a Church Mission Society printed Maori version of the Treaty. The Chiefs came forward and began signing this document but soon ran out of room to sign. For some reason Maunsell had a copy of Freeman’s royal style version concocted from bits and pieces of the original drafts.  This document was NOT sent to him by the government.  So he collected the overflow on this sheet of Freeman’s.  There were 39 signatures on the unofficial Freeman version.  

Since this was a version in English and the signing was against Hobson’s instructions, this version is actually null and void.  Only the Maori version signed at Port Waikato is valid. 

Here’s where the present day problems began.  Sometime in 1840 the final draft of Busby’s- the one translated into the Maori version went missing.  

So from 1840 to 1989 the Maori version was the only authentic version though there were English copies elsewhere. Three copies of Busby’s final draft were sent by Clendon on 20^th Feb 1840 to the US Secretary of State. This Maori version has not been used by the Waitangi Tribunal, even though most on the Tribunal are Maori speakers. Instead, conveniently for Maori, the fake Freeman version has been adopted as the English version of the Treaty. 

In 1989 the Busby final draft of the treaty in English was found.   It was found in a house in Pukekohe, near Auckland, where members of the Littlewood family were sorting out all the house contents of their recently deceased mother. 

Left wing pro- Maori  supporters came out of the woodwork  doing their best to discredit this find which was named the Littlewood version. Serious honest research on this document showed it was authentic and it was in fact the final Busby draft translated into the Maori version of the treaty on the night of the 4^th February 1840. 

Below is the Busby final draft in English which was translated into Maori overnight of the 4^th Feb 1840 by Rev Henry Williams and his son.  The second article is the one to concentrate on as it is vastly different from Freeman’s fake version

Notice how Article 2 in both the English and Maori version have the same size. This cannot be said when the fake Freeman version of Article 2 is put alongside the Maori version The Freeman version is much longer.  It does not translate into the Maori version. 

Below is the Freeman fake version of Article 2 used for the past 50 years.  It is now known as the “ Certified Copy.” 

Copies of the Treaty credited to Martin Doutre.  

Why is he Litlewood version authentic? 

The handwriting was that of British Resident James Busby. The writing was identified by New Zealand’s leading handwriting expert of documents from the early colonial era, Dr Phil Parkinson of the Alexander Turnbull Library. 

It is just two sides of one sheet of paper. At the end of the second page it is dated 4^th February 1840.  This is the date the final draft was written.   

A watermark is discernable on the paper.  It reads “W Tucker 1833.”  US Consul at the time of the treaty drafts and signing was  James Clendon .  Clendon was the only individual in NZ known to have used this unique paper stock in February 1840. He was the owner of the paper on which this draft was written. Busby was at Clendon’s house when the draft was prepared and he used Clendon’s personal supply of paper. It is clear Clendon was present as he sent  copies of the final draft to the US,  and so clearly he knew the contents. 

The Littlewood lineage has been traced right back to Russell in 1840. 

The document was downplayed and held to have little importance, and eventually ended up in the archives in Wellington.  It was put in a locked glass cabinet with only the first page uppermost so that the important second article and the date was not seen and was never shown to those who wanted to see it. It is now locked away in a room  out of sight. 

So the fake Freeman version carries on. 

I have included the Littlewood version (Busby’s final draft), and alongside it the Maori version.  Note how with the same size text they occupy the same area.  Reduce the fake Freeman version to the same size text and put it alongside and the two are vastly different in area.  The fake Freeman version does not translate into the Maori version. 

Note the following differences:

The true original treaty has no mention of forests and fisheries in Article 2.  The fake Freeman version has enabled Maori to acquire our forests and fisheries which they were not entitled to. 

In Article 2 the true treaty states:  The Queen of England  confirms and guarantees to the chiefs and tribes and to all the people of New Zealand the possession of their lands, dwellings and all their property.   “and to all the people of New Zealand” does not appear in the fake Freeman version so it appears Article 2 applies only to Maori. This is incorrect. Look at the Maori version:  nga tangata katoa o Nu Tirani.  This translates as “All the people of New Zealand.”   Note too the name of NZ in Maori is Nu Tirani  NOT the fictitious invented name  aotearoa. 

“ to all the people of NZ” is in the Littlewood version.

Clendon’s dispatch of 20^th Feb 1840 has “to all the people of NZ”

Commodore Charles Wilkes wrote into the U.S.S. Vicennes’ letter book and subsequently sent in his april 5^th1840 dispatch No 64 to the US Secretary of State: To the chiefs and tribes “and all the people of NZ”  

In Article 2 Maori could sell their land at an agreed price but only to a representative of the government. Take Note:  With the exception of a very small piece at the top of the Island Ngai Tahu sold all of the South Island.  This can be verified from looking at the deeds of sale. They do exist and they are real. But now Ngai Tahu claim they have rights over all the South island. They have NO rights. They sold the land.   

The word “taonga” appears in the Maori version. This word means simply property NOT treasures. Unfortunately, Hugh Kawharu  decided to change it to “treasures”. This enabled Maori to acquire even more assets at the taxpayer expense.  Early Maori dictionaries confirm this word is property. Further,  noted Maori scholar, Sir Apirana Ngata clearly stated that taonga was property, nothing else. 

Three further things to note: There is nothing about a partnership. In fact a Monarch cannot enter into a partnership with anyone.  There are no principles specified. So Maori just invent them.  Clearly Maori ceded sovereignty. 

If you compare the number of words in article 2 of the Freeman version with article 2 of the Maori version it is obvious there is no match. There are many more words in the Freeman version.  The freeman version does not translate into the Maori version. If you manage to find an honest Maori translator get him/her to translate Article 2 of the Maori version into English. Does it agree with the fake Freeman version-NO.  

The Preamble of the fake Freeman version has these words:  kIngdom, favour, emigration, Europe, functionary, pre-emption, Ireland, Australia, forests and fisheries.  I defy anyone to find these words in the Maori version preamble of the Treaty.  (I haven’t included the preambles due to space) . 

Maori are NOT indigenous.  The UN together with the WEF and WHO, who collectively want to be the world government changed the definition of indigenous to fit their agenda. The recognised definitions of indigenous are found in all reputable dictionaries.  

Maori fail of two counts.  They were not the first here and they came in boats from somewhere else.  We have the stone structures in the Waipoua forest in Northland and a detailed account of the excavation of the moa hunters in Hawkes Bay.  Maori did not build in stone.  Instead of being protected, the stone structures are deliberately being damaged by logging operations and cattle wandering all over them. You cannot get permission to see them, and if you insist you are threatened by the local iwi-Te Roroa. Some of the structures were excavated in the 1980’s. From one or two who worked on the site, Carbon 14 dating put the artifacts at about 900 AD, some 500 years before Maori arrived. But with cooperation from the government at the time and pressure from Northland Maori, the dating of the artifacts could not be released to the public for 75 years. WHY?  Because Maori want to claim they are indigenous. 

I have 140 pages covering the whole excavation over several years in Hawkes Bay. Artifacts were found BELOW the Taupo ash. The last Taupo eruption occurred about 250 AD, so we had inhabitants hunting moa in Hawkes Bay some 1100 years at least, before Maori arrived. Once again the carbon 14 dating has been kept under wraps. The Carbon  dates should be released to the public.  

There are many other examples of evidence of occupation before Maori arrived. 

While there are a few survivors from those early inhabitants. They were generally peaceable inhabitants and were not able to cope with the warlike Maori. 

Just like the Colonials, Maori arrived here in boats. We know the name of the boats. Maori cannot claim they are indigenous and therefore they cannot claim special rights over and above anyone else. 

Ian Bradford, a science graduate, is a former teacher, lawyer, farmer and keen sportsman, who is writing a book about the fraud of anthropogenic climate change.  He also has an interest in the Treaty of Waitangi.