Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand
(October 28, 1835)

1. We, the hereditary chiefs and heads of the tribes of the
Northern parts of New Zealand, being assembled at Waitangi
in the Bay of Islands on this 28th day of October, 1835, declare
the Independence of our Country, which is hereby constituted
and declared to be an Independent State, under the designation
of The United Tribes of New Zealand.
2. All sovereign power and authority within the territories
of the United Tribes of New Zealand is hereby declared to reside
entirely and exclusively in the hereditary chiefs and heads
of tribes in their collective capacity, who also declare that they
will not permit any legislative authority separate from themselves
in their collective capacity to exist, nor any function of
government to be exercised within the said territories, unless
by persons appointed by them, and acting under the authority
of laws regularly enacted by them in Congress assembled.
3. The hereditary chiefs and heads of tribes agree to meet in
Congress at Waitangi in the autumn of each year, for the purpose
of framing laws for the dispensation of justice, the preservation
of peace and good order, and the regulation of trade; and
they cordially invite the Southern tribes to lay aside their pri-
vate animosities and to consult the safety and welfare of our
common country, by joining the Confederation of the United
Tribes.
4. They also agree to send a copy of this Declaration to His
Majesty the King of England, to thank him for his acknowledgement
of their flag; and in return for the friendship and
protection they have shown, and are prepared to show, to such
of his subjects as have settled in their country, or resorted to its
shores for the purposes of trade, they entreat that he will continue
to be the parent of their infant State, and that he will become
its Protector from all attempts upon its independence.
Agreed to unanimously on this 28th day of October, 1835,
in the presence of His Britannic Majesty’s Resident.
Source: Fac-Similes of the Declaration of Independence and the Treaty of Waitangi
(Wellington, NZ, 1877), 4.