Ko te tikanga o te Kotahitanga he whakakotahi i te iwi Māori, tae rawa ake ki ērā kua motu ō rātou taura here ki te kāinga.
He kanorau ngā rōpū kotahitanga; he rōpū ā-rohe ētahi, he rōpū ā-motu ētahi. He whakakotahi i ngā iwi te kaupapa a ētahi, he whakaū i te pūmautanga iwi tā ētahi. Arā hoki ērā i tautoko i te whakakotahitanga ki roto i ngā whakahaerenga Māori me te kore aro ki te iwitanga. Ko ētahi ka pū mai i te whakapono, hei tauira i te taha wairua o te iwi Māori. Tērā anō ngā rōpū kāore he here ki te kāwanatanga, me ērā ka whai huruhuru mai i te kāwanatanga.
Te haki o te tau 1834
Ko te tauira tōmua o te kotahitanga ko te kara tuatahi o Aotearoa. I mua i te tau 1840 kāore i whakaaetia ngā waka i hahauhia ki Aotearoa kia whakarere i te haki o Peretānia. Ā, ko te kaipuke o Patuone rāua ko Taonui, ko te Sir George Murray tērā, i puritia mō te kore mau kara. Hei whakaea i tēnei raru, ka whakarauikatia mai e te Kainoho Peretānia e James Busby ngā rangatira o te Tai Tokerau kia whiri rātou i te haki mō ngā kaipuke o Aotearoa. Kāti, i te 20 o Aperira i te tau 1834 ka whakatārewatia te kara o Te Whakaminenga o ngā Iwi, ā, ka whakamanaia e ngā rangatira 25 o te Tai Tokerau ki Waitangi. Ka whakamanaia hoki e Peretānia te haki me ngā rēhita a ngā Māori.
Te Whakaputanga
I te tau o muri mai ka kōwhiria te haki ā-motu, ā, ka whakahuia mai e Busby ngā rangatira o te Tai Tokerau ki Waitangi. Ka mutu i te 28 o Oketopa i te tau 1835, ka tāmokohia Te Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tirene, i whai mana ai te rangatiratanga ki te whenua rangatira. I te tuatahi ka waitohutia e ngā rangatira o Te Hiku o Te Ika, ā, taihoa ka kuhu haere mai ko Te Wherowhero o Waikato, me Te Hāpuku o Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga. Ko te tikanga ka hui i ia rua tau, engari kāore tonu rātou i hui.
He iwi kotahi tātou
I te waituhinga o te Tiriti o Waitangi, ka kī a Hobson ki ngā rangatira, ‘He iwi kotahi tātou’ me te rūrū anō i a rātou. He momo kotahitanga hoki tērā. I roto i tētahi reta a Ngāti Whātua ki te kāwana i te tau 1860 ka whakapuakina ‘ko te kotahitanga o ēnei iwi e rua’.1 Heoi i te nuinga o te wā ka pā anake tēnei kōrero ki te Māori.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi, i te tau 1840
Ko te Tiriti o Waitangi te tūāpapa o ngā ture o tēnei motu. Kāti he waikanaetanga i waenganui i te Karauna a Kuini Wikitōria me ngā rangatira Māori. Ko tētahi take mō te whakahaere i te tiriti he whiriwhiri i te whakawhitinga o te tino rangatiratanga i runga i te whakatau kē o ngā rangatira i tō rātou mana motuhake i te tau 1835. Ka kōrero hoki te tiriti mō te whakataunga o mua ake, arā: ‘The Chiefs of the Confederation of the United Tribes of New Zealand and the separate and independent Chiefs’. E ai ki te wāhanga Pākehā o te tiriti, ka whakawhiti te tiriti i te tino rangatiratanga ki Peretānia, engari ki te wāhanga Māori, ka hoatu kē ko te kāwanatanga. I te wāhanga Pākehā hoki, ka pupuri tonu te Māori ki ō rātou whenua, engari i te wāhanga Māori, ka puritia tonutia e rātou ko te tino rangatiratanga. I roto hoki i te whakataunga o te tau 1835, ko te tikanga o te kupu rangatiratanga ko te ‘independence’.