Ko te Tiriti o Waitangi te kapa tuatahi o ngā tikanga o Aotearoa. I whakauruhia i te tau 1840 i runga i te whakaaetanga i waenganui i Ngā Mātāpuna o te Kīngitanga o Ingarangi me ngā Rangatira Māori. Ko tāna whāinga ko te whakarite i te whakaaetanga o ngā tikanga, te mana motuhake, me te whai wāhi ki te whenua me ngā rawa ki te hunga Māori, kei te tūtohu hoki i te mana o te kāwanatanga. He nuinga ngā panoni i te tau 1975, ā, kua whakarewahia te Kaitiaki o te Tiriti hei whakatau i ngā tautohetohe, whakawā, me te whakauru i ngā whakaaetanga hei whakatika i ngā hara o mua. Ko te Tiriti he tāonga nō Aotearoa katoa, ā, he pūtake nui hoki o te whenua, o te tangata, o te tikanga.