Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed on nine separate sheets by roughly 500 Māori rangatira in many different locations throughout Aotearoa New Zealand during the year 1840.

The first sheet to be signed was the Waitangi Sheet, at Waitangi, on 6 February 1840. Beginning on the 4th February, a hui was held between an assembly of about 43 Māori rangatira and representatives of the British Crown, hosted by the British Resident in New Zealand, James Busby, on the lawns of his house at Waitangi. There was both support for and opposition to the Treaty in the initial discussions. Hone Heke was the first Māori chief to sign the treaty, although his name does not appear at the top of the sheet, as other signatures were added above it. Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson signed it on behalf of the British Crown.

The Mangungu treaty signing on 12 February at the Mangungu Mission Station in South Hokianga was the largest signing of the Treaty. Around 60 to 70 Māori signed the Waitangi Sheet here in front of 3,000 people. Hobson traveled straight to Mangungu after 6 February to convene this gathering. This hui saw some of the strongest opposition to the Treaty, yet many of those who signed later remained committed to it, fighting against Hōne Heke during the Northern War of 1845–46.

Other places the Waitangi Sheet was signed in Te Tai Tokerau include Waimate North, Kaitāia and Russell.

Hobson’s party travelled aboard HMS Herald from Kaitāia to the Waitematā harbour, where on 4 March, seventeen rangatira from the wider region of Tāmaki-Makau-Rau signed the Waitangi Sheet at Karaka Bay, near the mouth of the Tāmaki River. Many of these signatories were Ngāti Pāoa rangatira from Waiheke Island and the eastern Tamaki / northern Hauraki region. The Treaty was considered to offer protection from both Ngā Puhi to the north and Waikato to the south.

In July, Hobson convened what would be his final Treaty meeting somewhere, perhaps again at Karaka Bay, in Tāmaki. The British sought the support of Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, the influential Waikato rangatira who later became the first king of the Kīngitanga. Although he did not sign, he appears not to have harboured ill will toward Hobson.

In total, around 240 rangatira signed the Waitangi Sheet.

Colonial Secretary Willoughby Shortland was appointed Hobson’s deputy to oversee the circulation of Treaty sheets. Shortland dispatched Captain William Symonds with the Manukau–Kāwhia Sheet to collect signatures from rangatira around and south of the Manukau Harbour. Three Ngāti Whātua rangatira — Kawau, Tinana, and Rēweti — signed at a hui on 20 March. A further ten signatures were gathered at Kāwhia between April and September. This sheet was the last to be returned, in 1841.

The other Treaty sheets that were signed across the country are:

• Waikato–Manukau Sheet: signed at Waikato Heads and in Manukau Harbour (March–April)
• Printed Sheet: signed in Waikato (March–April)
• Tauranga Sheet: signed in Tauranga (April–May)
• Bay of Plenty (Fedarb) Sheet: signed at Ōpōtiki, Tōrere, Whakatāne, and Te Kaha (May–June)
• Herald (Bunbury) Sheet: signed in the Coromandel, Mercury Island, Akaroa, Otago Heads, Hawke’s Bay, and elsewhere (May–June)
• Cook Strait (Henry Williams) Sheet: signed at Port Nicholson, Queen Charlotte Sound, Kāpiti, Manawatū, Waikanae, and Whanganui (May–June)
• East Coast Sheet: signed at Tūranga, Ūawa, Whakawhitirā, Rangitukia, and Tokomaru (May–June)

In total, more than 500 rangatira signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 1840. For some signatories, extensive biographical information survives; for others, only their tohu remains.