Editing Tino rangatiratanga (section)

== Treaty of Waitangi ==
The emphasis on ''{{Lang|Mi|tino rangatiratanga}}'' draws from an inconsistency arising between Article 1 and Article 2 of the [[Treaty of Waitangi]]:

*In the English text of Article 1 of the treaty, the Māori signatories cede their sovereignty to the British Crown. For the Māori text, since there was no direct Māori translation for the idea, the missionary neologism {{Lang|Mi|[[kawanatanga]]}} ('governorship') was used to represent the concept of sovereignty. That word was based on the transliteration of {{Lang|Mi|kawana}} from 'governor', which had been invented by [[Bible]] translators to explain [[Pontius Pilate]]'s authority in [[Iudaea Province|Judaea]]. {{Lang|Mi|Kawana}} had also been used prior to 1840 to describe the Governor of [[New South Wales]].
*In the English text of Article 2, signatories are assured that "the full exclusive and undisturbed possession of their Lands and Estates Forests Fisheries and other properties" would remain for so long as they chose. In the Māori text, signatories are assured that their ''{{Lang|Mi|tino rangatiratanga}}'' will remain undisturbed over their lands, {{Lang|Mi|kainga}} and other {{Lang|Mi|[[taonga]]}}: "te tino rangatiratanga o ratou wenua o ratou kainga me o ratou taonga katoa", literally "the absolute chieftainship of your lands, your homes, and all your treasures/[[taonga]]".

Based on the Māori text alone, in Article 1, the signatories appear to be granting ''{{Lang|Mi|kawanatanga}}'', and in Article 2, the signatories are promised that their ''{{Lang|Mi|tino rangatiratanga}}'' ('absolutely sovereignty' or 'highest chieftainship') would remain undisturbed. The apparent inconsistency led to much debate as to whether the Māori signatories intended to cede their sovereignty to the British Crown at all: a debate now definitively resolved by the [[Waitangi Tribunal]] finding that sovereignty was not ceded by the signing of the Treaty, but the Tribunal said nothing about how and when the Crown acquired the sovereignty that it exercises today.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://waitangitribunal.govt.nz/news/report-on-stage-1-of-the-te-paparahi-o-te-raki-inquiry-released-2/ |title=Treaty Signatories Did Not Cede Sovereignty in February 1840 – Tribunal |publisher=Te Roopu Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi ([[Waitangi Tribunal]]) |date=2014-02-14 |access-date=2020-04-12 |archive-date=6 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170406120852/https://waitangitribunal.govt.nz/news/report-on-stage-1-of-the-te-paparahi-o-te-raki-inquiry-released-2/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Text of the Treaty ===

The original Māori text of article two with a literal translation by Professor I. H. Kawharu, as published in the Report of the Royal Commission on Social Policy in 1988 (bold added):<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |date=10 January 2019 |title=The Treaty of Waitangi |url=https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/discover-collections/read-watch-play/maori/treaty-waitangi |website=Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, NZ}}</ref>

{{verse translation | lang=Mi
|Ko te Kuini o Ingarani ka wakarite ka wakaae ki nga Rangatira ki nga hapu – ki nga tangata katoa o Nu Tirani '''te tino rangatiratanga''' o o ratou wenua o ratou kainga me o ratou taonga katoa. 
|The Queen of England agrees to protect the Chiefs, the subtribes and all the people of New Zealand in '''the unqualified exercise of their chieftainship''' over their lands, villages and all their treasures.}}