Understanding Te Tiriti Taonga Edition

Finally feel clear about Te Tiriti in an edition made to be treasured

The Taonga Edition of New Zealand #1 bestseller guide to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, created to celebrate two years of a book that has helped thousands of New Zealanders finally understand what was actually agreed, and why it still matters today.

This is the same clear, factual, empowering content, now in a beautiful hardcover edition designed not just to be read, but to be kept, displayed, or gifted. At 60 pages, it includes expanded content and the TKP design by Noelle Jakeman: a visual framework for understanding the three most important principles of te Tiriti — Tino Rangatiratanga, Kāwanatanga, and Partnership.

Original artwork by Noelle Jakeman and artbyngawai and design by Sarah Healey make this a genuinely beautiful object to treasure or gift. Pounamu green and paua blue, it is a taonga in every sense.

Read about how Roimata uses art and design to make complex history accessible →

Inside the book

• What Aotearoa looked like before 1840
• What was promised in te Tiriti (in te reo Māori) and agreed with Māori
• How the English “Treaty” document differed — and why that matters
• How land loss unfolded across generations
• What tino rangatiratanga looks like today
• How te Tiriti continues to shape Aotearoa now
• The TKP framework — a visual guide to the three key principles of te Tiriti

About the author

Roimata Smail (Ngāti Maniapoto, Tainui) is a human rights lawyer, educator, and bestselling author. She has spent over 20 years working on te Tiriti cases and teaching te Tiriti in ways that are factual, respectful, and accessible — including preparing urgent submissions to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. She created Wai Ako to make knowledge accessible to everyone, because knowledge is power when shared.

Book details

60 pages — A5 (14.7 × 21.1 cm), hardcover
ISBN 978-0-473-70188-8
Artwork by artbyngawai
Designed by Sarah Healey
TKP design by Noelle Jakeman, used with permission

Order your copy — or give one to someone who deserves to know.