Islands Bay

The Bay of Islands on the north-eastern North Island was a Māori maritime landscape before it became a centre of foreign shipping. Rangihoua's pā and village overlooked a sheltered anchorage, joining local gardens and fishing grounds to wider seaborne exchange. Ruatara's protection enabled Samuel Marsden and the Church Missionary Society to establish their station below the pā in December 1814. The newcomers depended on Māori authority and cooperation.

In 1833 James Busby arrived as British Resident at Waitangi. His position was weak: he had neither troops nor police and could not make arrests. Northern chiefs adopted a flag in 1834 to protect the standing of New Zealand-built ships abroad. On 28 October 1835, 34 rangatira signed He Whakaputanga at Waitangi, asserting that sovereign authority belonged to Māori. Commercial contact and foreign residence thus developed alongside explicit claims to Indigenous political authority.