Editing Treaty of Waitangi (section)

==Extant copies==
[[File:Treaty of Waitangi all documents.jpg|thumb|upright=2.75|center|The group of nine documents that make up the Treaty of Waitangi.]]
In 1841, treaty documents, housed in an iron box, narrowly escaped damage when saved by civil servant George Elliot as the government offices at Official Bay in [[Auckland]] were destroyed by fire.<ref name="Journey">{{Cite book |url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/documents/Journey.pdf |title=The Journey of the Treaty |publisher=State Services Commission |year=2005 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414152742/https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/documents/Journey.pdf |archive-date=14 April 2017}}</ref> They disappeared from sight until 1865 when a Native Department officer worked on them in Wellington at the request of parliament and produced an erroneous list of signatories. The papers were fastened together and then deposited in a safe in the [[Colonial Secretary (New Zealand)|Colonial Secretary]]'s office.{{sfn|Orange|1987|p=236}}

In 1877, the English-language rough draft of the treaty was published along with photolithographic [[facsimiles]], and the originals were returned to storage. In 1908, historian and bibliographer [[Thomas Hocken]], searching for historical documents, found the treaty papers in the basement of the [[Old Government Buildings, Wellington|Old Government Buildings]] in poor condition,<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 August 1909 |title=N.Z. COMPANY DOCUMENTS. OTAGO DAILY TIMES |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19090806.2.9 |access-date=2 April 2022 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz |archive-date=2 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402084622/https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19090806.2.9 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Te Tiriti o Waitangi |url=https://www.archives.govt.nz/discover-our-stories/the-treaty-of-waitangi |access-date=2 April 2022 |website=www.archives.govt.nz |archive-date=11 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811091145/http://archives.govt.nz/exhibitions/treaty |url-status=live }}</ref> damaged at the edges by water and partly eaten by rodents.<ref name="Journey" /> The papers were restored by the [[New Zealand Dominion Museum building|Dominion Museum]] in 1913 and kept in special boxes from then on.<ref name=":0" /> In February 1940, the treaty documents were taken to Waitangi for display in the [[Treaty House]] during the [[New Zealand Centennial Exhibition|Centenary]] celebrations.<ref name="Journey" /> It was possibly the first time the treaty document had been on public display since it was signed.{{sfn|Orange|1987|p=236}} After the outbreak of war with Japan, they were placed with other state documents in an outsize [[trunk (luggage)|luggage trunk]] and deposited for secure custody with the [[Public Trustee]] at [[Palmerston North]] by the local member of parliament, who did not tell staff what was in the case. However, as the case was too large to fit in the safe, the treaty documents spent the war at the side of a back corridor in the Public Trust office.

In 1956, the [[Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand)|Department of Internal Affairs]] placed the treaty documents in the care of the [[Alexander Turnbull Library]] and they were displayed in 1961. Further preservation steps were taken in 1966, with improvements to the display conditions.<ref name="Journey" /> From 1977 to 1980, the library extensively restored the documents before the treaty was deposited in the Reserve Bank.<ref name="Journey" />

In anticipation of a decision to exhibit the document in 1990 (the sesquicentennial of the signing), full documentation and reproduction photography was carried out. Several years of planning culminated with the opening of the climate-controlled Constitution Room at the [[Archives New Zealand|National Archives]] by [[Mike Moore (New Zealand politician)|Mike Moore]], [[Prime Minister of New Zealand]], in November 1990.<ref name="Journey" /> It was announced in 2012 that the nine Treaty of Waitangi sheets would be relocated to the [[National Library of New Zealand]] in 2013.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=45636 |title=Treaty of Waitangi to be moved from Archives to National Library |publisher=Wellington.scoop.co.nz |access-date=2 March 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306091917/http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=45636 |archive-date=6 March 2014}}</ref> In 2017, the He Tohu permanent exhibition at the National Library opened, displaying the treaty documents along with the [[Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand|Declaration of Independence]] and the [[1893 Women's Suffrage Petition]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Signatures that shape New Zealand |url=https://natlib.govt.nz/he-tohu |access-date=29 January 2019 |archive-date=31 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190131091348/https://natlib.govt.nz/he-tohu/ |url-status=live }}</ref>