| 
       Michael A. Stecker 
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                  Following a day of heated debate at the house of British 
                  resident James Busby (shown above), the Treaty of Waitangi was 
                  signed at Waitangi in the  
                Bay of Islands on 6 February 1840 by Captain William Hobson, several English residents and approximately forty-five Maori chiefs. . 
                  
                  
                  The Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti O Waitangi) lays the 
                  foundation for the way Maori and other New Zealanders share 
                  responsibility for their country  
 and is considered the founding document of the nation of New Zealand.  |