Sovereignty

My final comment on this topic relates to Gary A Clover’s statement (Letters, Oct 25) regarding the reported words of Sir A¯ pirana Ngata in his speech at the Treaty centenary at Waitangi in 1940.

I feel Mr Clover’s suggestion that Ngata was ‘‘being astutely realistic, given the political realities of the 1940s’’ does this great Ma¯ ori leader a disservice.

I have been unable to find any evidence that other Ma¯ ori leaders of the time raised any opposition to his words that the chiefs signing the Treaty in 1840 ‘‘handed over mana and the sovereignty of New Zealand to Queen Victoria and her descendants forever’’.

A Fleete, Parklands