Awekura - Te Tiriti ki Tāmaki Makaurau

Awekura is a blog and podcast series that highlights treasures within Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections. In this series, library specialists provide a window into the world of these special collections.

What happens when we bring 21st century technology to the heritage collections? The Mātauranga Māori team at Auckland Libraries has explored this question through an augmented reality (AR) experience focused on Te Tiriti ki Tāmaki Makaurau | Places where the treaty was signed in Auckland. We are familiar with the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi on 6 February 1840. What people are less aware of, is how the treaty was then taken around the Bay of Islands and Hokianga before being sent around the motu for additional signatures, including Tāmaki Makaurau.

Before becoming an augmented reality (AR) experience, the project began as a print booklet which drew on research and heritage collection items to explore the story of the signing of the Te Tiriti in Tāmaki Makaurau.

In Auckland, we have the first signing on 4th March 1840, where chiefs of Ngāti Pāoa, Ngāti Tamaoho, Ngāti Naho, Ngāpuhi , Ngā Wai and Te Parawhau signed a copy of the Treaty of Waitangi witnessed by Captain Joseph Nias, Henry Williams and William Fairburn. The exact location of the meeting is unknown but it is somewhere on the southern shores of the Waitematā or along the Tāmaki River, possibly at Waiarohe or Karaka Bay.

Image: Watercolour of Karaka Bay by W Jordan, 1840. Copy by J D Richardson. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 4-01062.

On 20th March 1840, a hui was organized by Captain W C Symonds and James Hamlin at Orua Bay on the Manukau Peninsula. The Waikato chiefs present including Pōtatau Te Wherowhero refused to sign. Three Ngāti Whātua chiefs did sign, and this copy of the treaty is known as the Manukau-Kāwhia sheet.

Image: Panoramic view of Orua Bay on the Manukau Peninsula, 1909. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections Footprints 04613.

The Waikato-Manukau sheet is the only sheet to be written in English. 39 rangatira signed this sheet and atleast one these rangatira was a woman, Hoana Riutoto. Initially there were 32 signatories to the treaty, but on 26th April 1840, a meeting at Āwhitu Peninsula saw another seven rangatira sign the treaty.

On 9th July 1840, Governor William Hobson and his entourage met with local chiefs on the shores of the Tāmaki River. This area presumed is to be Karaka Bay. Seven chiefs signed it here and this was the last signing in the Tāmaki area.

Image: Map showing the Tāmaki district and Karaka bay on the top left, 1930. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections Map 9274.

Image: Aerial view of Karaka Bay and St Heliers, 1937. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 7-A01747.

Podcast:

Ngā Pātaka Kōrero - Auckland Libraries · Te Tiriti ki Tāmaki Makaurau with Robert Eruera and Maureen Ned

In our podcast, Robert Eruera (Pou Whakarae Taonga Tuku Iho Māori) and Maureen Ned (Poukokiri Whakatapoko Tapaenga) from the Mātauranga Māori team talk about their experience in creating this augmented reality (AR) experience and sharing this knowledge with the community. Waxeye Digital Studios helped the team to create this experience. It is designed to travel to community spaces and can be enjoyed by all ages.

The experience features an interactive map that shows the different areas in Tāmaki Makaurau where the treaty was signed. This experience has now been translated into four languages, Te Reo Māori, English, Samoan and Mandarin, showing the versatile use of digital technology and in house knowledge to connect with our communities.

You can reach out to your local library to book in a session to view this experience.

See the trailer of the experience here:

Images used in the Augmented Reality experience: