Nga Tohu

In 1840 more than 500 chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document. Ngā Tohu, when complete, will contain a biographical sketch of each signatory.


Signing

SignatureSheetSigned asProbable nameTribeHapūSigning Occasion
184Sheet 1 — The Waitangi SheetKopaKopa/KapaTe AupōuriKaitāia 28 April 1840

Kopa (possibly Kapa) signed the Treaty of Waitangi on 28 April 1840 at Kaitāia.

At the hui he said:

he had heard the same stories [that the governor was here to kill them and take the land for Pākehā], but urged open discussion. ‘If you have anything good or bad to say – say it now. The Missionaries came for our good and they side with the Governor … Let us hear what you have to say now – don’t go home and sit grumbling in your houses.’ [1]

He also noted, ‘If your actions are like those of the Missionaries we would not be afraid of you – but I fear the soldiers’. [2]


[1] Adrienne Puckey, Trading cultures: a history of the Far North, Huia, Wellington, 2011, p. 39

[2] Quoted in Trading cultures, p. 39


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