Manufacturing chiefly consent?: James Busby and the role of Rangatira in the pre-colonial era

The story of James Busby's role as official British Resident in New Zealand between 1833 and the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 has been told many times. This paper focuses on one aspect of Busby's performance of those duties which has received comparatively little attention. From the outset the British Resident set about creating a centralized body of chiefs through which he hoped to indirectly govern the tribes. These efforts ran contrary to customary Maori decision-making processes which involved a much wider group than rangatira. Though far from a resounding success, to a large extent Busby's efforts to elevate the authority of rangatira for ulterior ends set the platform for similar Crown policies pursued after 1840. While there were many factors impacting upon the standing of rangatira in the pre-Waitangi era, this paper suggests that Busby's attempts to manipulate customary relations in this manner warrant closer attention.