how many chiefs signed the declaration of independence
Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand In 1834, James Busby, the official British Resident in New Zealand, drafted a document known as the Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand, which he and 34[2] northern Māori chiefs—including Tāmati Wāka Nene, Tītore and Bay of Islands brothers; Te Wharerahi, Rewa, and Moka Te Kainga-mataa—signed at Waitangi on 28 October 1835. By 1839, 52 chiefs had signed.[2]