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In April 1840, while he was recuperating at Waimate, Hobson approached the CMS lay missionary George Clarke to take the position of Protector of Aborigines, initially a temporary position, which he accepted. When the new colony was established in 1841, Clarke filled the position as Chief Protector of Aborigines. Clarke and his staff were also given a second, conflicting, role as land purchasers for the Crown. Hobson was recorded in April 1840 as saying to Clarke: 'It may be necessary to appraise you that, in the discharge of your duties, you may be called upon to make journies into the interior and to negotiate the purchase of lands from the natives.' Although Clarke managed to persuade the Governor to free him of the land purchasing responsibilities, which clearly conflicted with his protective role, his sub-protectors still retained their dual roles. Several sub-protectors worked actively for Māori interests, most prominently the very young George Clarke Jnr, who was an advocate for Māori before Spain's Land Claims Commission and who investigated the Wairau Incident. In 1846, Governor George Grey, suspicious of anyone, especially missionaries, who exercised influence over Māori apart from himself, disbanded the Native Protectorate and appointed a Native Secretary to implement his instructions.

Following Lord Normanby's instructions, and as proclaimed by Governor Gipps in Sydney and Hobson when he arrived in New Zealand, three Land Claims Commissioners (M. Richmond, E. L. Godfrey and W. Spain) were appointed to investigate all pre-Treaty land purchases made by Europeans. If the Commissioners concluded that a purchase was made in good faith, they could validate it and award a Crown Grant limited to 2560 acres (4 square miles). If the purchase was invalid or exceeded that size, the excess land in question was not returned to the original Māori owners but became Crown land. One Land Claims Commissioner, English lawyer William Spain, was appointed especially to investigate the huge purchases claimed by the New Zealand Company. Over several years, Spain determined that most of the New Zealand Company purchases in Wellington and elsewhere were invalid but not all his recommendations were acted upon. There was subsequently a shift from investigating the validity of the Company's land claims to arbitrating agreements with Māori to allow settlement in Wellington to go ahead.

In 1842, a longstanding struggle between the Māori of Hauraki and Tauranga broke out in a fresh wave of violence. The Government could do little about it, and the Attorney-General advanced the argument that the chiefs who had not signed the Treaty (as was the case with Taraia, one of the leaders in the fighting) were perhaps not bound by the Crown's authority anyway. This argument was immediately rejected in London. Since Hobson's declaration of the Queen's sovereignty in May 1840 (or at least since his proclamation was gazetted in London in October 1840) all of New Zealand and all of its inhabitants were considered to be under British sovereignty. This did not mean, however, that British law had to be imposed immediately upon Māori. Some matters, such as warfare, cannibalism and slavery, were supposed to be suppressed as soon as practicable, but other customs could be left to the influence of missionaries and increasing contact with white settlement.

The settlers in the New Zealand Company town of Nelson were keen to expand their lands into the Wairau Valley, ahead of the Land Commissioner's inquiry into the area. The local Māori, particularly Ngāti Toa, rejected any claim that they had already sold that area to the Company. One group, led by Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata, disrupted a survey party and burned their huts. In response, a party led by local magistrate Thompson and company representative Captain Arthur Wakefield set out to arrest the chiefs. When they met at Tuamarina, Te Rauparaha denied destroying anything that was not his own property. Thompson became enraged, and when he called his men forward, a musket went off, killing Te Rangihaeata's wife. In the ensuing battle, 22 Europeans were killed, including those who surrendered, in utu (satisfaction) for the Māori deaths. The settlers were outraged and there was widespread hysteria that Ngāti Toa would attack elsewhere, especially in Wellington. But incoming Governor Robert FitzRoy took the view that the settler posse had brought it on themselves by foolish and provocative actions and inflicted no punishment upon Ngāti Toa.

Many chiefs had suffered economically when customs duties were levied on ships calling at the Bay of Islands, raising the cost of goods and reducing the flow of trade. They were further disadvantaged in 1841 with the relocation of the colonial capital to Auckland. The new Governor, Robert FitzRoy (1844-45), waived Crown pre-emption (the Crown's exclusive right of land purchase), partly to appease Heke and other northern chiefs, who wanted no constraint on whom they could deal with. Heke was incensed that the Union Jack, a symbol of British government, flew over Kororāreka (the town now called Russell), without the former 'New Zealand Standard' of 1834 beside it. As a result, he had the flagpole chopped down four times in 1844-1845. Some considered this a truly patriotic gesture on Heke's part. On the last occasion, the township of Kororāreka was sacked and pillaged, and most buildings, except the church buildings, were burned. The townsfolk were evacuated to Auckland. Fighting between British troops (aided by some Māori, such as Nene) and the forces under Heke and Kawiti broke out and on 15 January 1845, a proclamation was issued in both languages offering a reward for Heke's arrest. FitzRoy was recalled, to be replaced at the end of 1845 by the military governor George Grey. Māori fortifications and tactics enabled the forces under Heke and Kawiti to defeat the British troops, and when they gave Governor Grey an empty victory at Ruapekapeka, by simply withdrawing, the tactic led to stalemate.

In 1846, the British Government issued a self-governing charter to the colony and instructed that all Māori land ownership be registered. Any lands deemed to be unused were to become Crown land. The pre-emption clause in Article 2 of the Treaty, requiring Māori to sell, only to the Crown or its agent, was reinstated by Governor Grey after being waived two years earlier by his predecessor, FitzRoy. Crown pre-emption meant exclusive right of purchase, not first option. Crown agents developed a range of frequently dubious practices to persuade Māori to sell, and the Crown monopoly meant that they could offer whatever the Government was prepared to pay, not a market rate. Governor Grey embarked on wholesale land purchases in the South Island, the Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay. As complaints increased, the Government itself was the arbiter as well as the defendant. Māori criticised a system that did not allow them to lease out their own land, or receive market prices, while many Pākehā wished to purchase directly.

The Ngati Tuwharetoa village of Te Rapa on the south-western shore of Lake Taupo was obliterated in this landslide. Sixty people were killed, including the paramount chief Mananui, Te Heuheu Tukino II.

Dairying started in New Zealand around 1815, when Samuel Marsden brought the first cows to his Northland mission. However, within 30 years the Pākehā community's appetite for dairy products ensured that the practice had become widespread in both the North and South Islands. By the 1840s, dairy products were produced on a relatively large scale. Herds on Banks Peninsula were milked for the production of butter and cheeses that were shipped to Wellington and various whaling stations around the country. Farming success allowed cheese to be exported to Australia from 1847. Cheese was a durable product, and butter could also be transported reliably in salt water preservative.

The Constitution Act 1852, which set up New Zealand's parliamentary system, suggested some form of temporary local self-government for Māori. Section 71 provided that "Native districts could be declared wherein the laws, customs and usages of the aboriginal or native inhabitants … should for the present be maintained for the Government of themselves, in all their relations to and dealings with each other…". Grey did not, however, declare any Native Districts, arguing that the "amalgamation of races" was proceeding well, through trade and through the mission schools. In the administration of justice, Grey did provide for the appointment of chiefs as salaried Māori "assessors" and police to assist the Resident Magistrates, and in practice, the joint administration did allow for a measure of practical recognition of Māori values and customs. However, since the right to vote was based on individual property ownership, Māori who possessed their land communally were almost entirely excluded from voting for Parliament. "Amalgamation" with settler society was still believed to be the only future for a race thought otherwise to be doomed. But in many important respects, notably in the national parliament and in the provincial assemblies which were also established at this time, Māori were not included in the new governing institutions. Well aware of the settlers' hunger for land, they became increasingly anxious for their future.

The Constitution Act of 1852 set up New Zealand's parliamentary system and suggested some form of temporary local self-government for Māori. Section 71 said that the "laws, customs and usages of the aboriginal or native inhabitants ... should for the present be maintained for the Government of themselves, in all their relations to and dealings with each other ..." This was not put into effect. Also, since the franchise was based on individual property ownership, Māori, who possessed their land communally, were almost entirely excluded from voting. Six provinces were created in 1852 - Auckland, Taranaki, Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury and Otago - and in 1859 Hawke's Bay and Marlborough were added. Southland was created in 1861, being absorbed by Otago in 1870. Westland was separated from Canterbury in 1873. Each province had its own Superintendent (the equivalent of a Governor) and Provincial Council.