Editing Treaty of Waitangi (section)

==Drafting and translating the treaty==
[[File:HenryWilliams, missionary (1792-1867).jpg|thumb|upright|Rev [[Henry Williams (missionary)|Henry Williams]], who translated the treaty into Māori with the help of his son [[Edward Marsh Williams]].]]
Without a draft document prepared by lawyers or Colonial Office officials, Hobson was forced to write his own treaty with the help of his secretary, James Freeman, and British Resident [[James Busby]], neither of whom was a lawyer.{{sfn|Orange|1987|p=24}} Historian [[Paul Moon]] believes certain articles of the treaty resemble the [[Treaty of Utrecht]] (1713), the British [[Sherbro people|Sherbro]] Agreement (1825) and the treaty between Britain and Soombia Soosoos (1826).<ref name="moon">{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10619805&pnum=0|title=Paul Moon: Hope for watershed in new Treaty era|date=13 January 2010|access-date=15 January 2010|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|archive-date=4 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181104165929/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10619805&pnum=0|url-status=live}}</ref>

The entire treaty was prepared in three days,{{sfn|King|2003|p=158}} in which it underwent many revisions.{{sfn|Orange|1987|p=30}} There were doubts even during the drafting process that the Māori chiefs would be able to understand the concept of relinquishing "sovereignty".{{sfn|Orange|1987|p=93}}

Assuming that a treaty in English could not be understood, debated or agreed to by Māori, Hobson asked CMS head missioner Henry Williams, and his son [[Edward Marsh Williams]], who was a scholar in Māori language and custom, to translate the document overnight on 4 February.{{sfn|McDowell|Webb|2002|pp=174–176}} Henry Williams was concerned with the actions of the New Zealand Company in Wellington and felt he had to agree with Hobson's request to ensure the treaty would be as favourable as possible to Māori. Williams avoided using any English words that had no expression in Māori "thereby preserving entire the spirit and tenor" of the treaty. He added a note to the copy Hobson sent to Gibbs stating, "I certify that the above is as literal a translation of the Treaty of Waitangi as the idiom of the language will allow."<ref name="B&T II"/>
The [[gospel]]-based literacy of Māori meant some of the concepts communicated in the translation were from the Māori Bible, including {{lang|mi|[[kawanatanga]]}} (governorship) and {{lang|mi|[[rangatiratanga]]}} (chiefly rule), and the idea of the treaty as a "covenant" was biblical.<ref name="Moxon">{{cite web |last1=David |first1=Moxon |title=The Treaty and the Bible in Aotearoa New Zealand |url=https://vaughanpark.nz/?sid=124 |website=Vaughan Park |publisher=Vaughan Park / [[David Moxon]] |access-date=26 April 2021 |archive-date=26 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426034120/https://vaughanpark.nz/?sid=124 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The translation of the treaty was reviewed by James Busby, and he proposed the substitution of the word {{lang|mi|whakaminenga}} for {{lang|mi|huihuinga}}, to describe the "Confederation" or gathering of the chiefs.<ref name="CARv2-2">{{cite book |last1= Carleton |first1= Hugh |title= The Life of Henry Williams: "Early Recollections" written by Henry Williams |year= 1874 |publisher= [[Early New Zealand Books]] (ENZB), University of Auckland Library |page= 12 |chapter= Vol. II |chapter-url= http://www.enzb.auckland.ac.nz/document?wid=1048&page=1&action=null |access-date= 19 October 2013 |archive-date= 27 February 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210227221740/http://www.enzb.auckland.ac.nz/document/?wid=1048&page=1&action=null |url-status= live }}</ref>{{sfn|Orange|1987|p=34}} This no doubt was a reference to the northern confederation of chiefs with whom Hobson preferred to negotiate, who eventually made up the vast majority of signatories to the treaty.{{sfn|Orange|1987|p=34}} Hobson believed that elsewhere in the country the Crown could exercise greater freedom over the rights of "first discoverers", which proved unwise as it led to future difficulties with other tribes in the South Island.{{sfn|Orange|1987|p=71}}