Rob Paterson: Yes - Sovereignty Was Ceded

Legal Argument: Māori Chiefs Ceded Sovereignty to the British Crown in 1840

I. Introduction

This argument supports the position that the Māori signatories to the Treaty of Waitangi of 1840 knowingly ceded full sovereignty (kawanatanga) to the British Crown.

This conclusion is supported by:

Professor Robert MacCulloch: We'll never know whether "sovereignty" was ceded....

Race activists in NZ should get over themselves & accept we'll never know whether "sovereignty" was ceded in the Treaty of Waitangi. What even is it?

What does the Treaty Debate, especially regarding the question of whether Sovereignty was ceded or not, have in common with the OJ Simpson Murder Trial in America? A lot. An incredible feature of OJ's trial was that surveys reported up to 75% of white Americans were convinced he committed the murders, whereas 75% of Black Americans were equally convinced he had not. None of those surveyed had attended the trial.

Geoff Parker: Sovereignty ceded

The references to sovereignty in this first archived document establishes that the Treaty was about sovereignty (not government or governance) and transfer of sovereignty was the intent of the British Government.

* Lord Normanby’s brief to William Hobson > https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Mac01Comp-t1-g1-t5-g1-t2-g1-t6.html

These next four archived documents prove beyond doubt that the chiefs ceded full sovereignty.