1860 Kohimārama Covenant

Governor Thomas Gore Browne (Governor 1855-1861) convened the first of many large meetings on the Treaty, partly in an attempt to draw attention away from the King movement and the fighting. It should also be noted that the idea of the Treaty as a holy covenant between Māori and the Crown had been present since 1840, when the missionaries appear to have used the term to encourage Māori chiefs to sign. The term was further developed at the Kohimārama meeting, in Auckland. Over four weeks at Kohimārama, a wide range of Māori from outside those groups fighting the Government discussed the Treaty and their concerns over land. The Kohimārama Covenant proposed a Native Council and other ideas, some of which were embodied in the first Native Land Act two years later. The Native Council, however, was never set up. The Government continued to face unremitting political pressure to provide land for waves of new migrants.