Chiefs understood that ceding sovereignty meant British rule
A report by the Waitangi Tribunal, two years ago, that argues the Ngapuhi chiefs of Northland did not agree to cede sovereignty is contradicted by statements made by chiefs at Waitangi, on February 5, 1840, and by the statements of more chiefs at Kohimarama in Auckland in August 1860.
Missionary William Colenso attended the Treaty debate among chiefs on February 5, 1840, and the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi the next day and wrote an account of the events. He recorded statements by various chiefs, and these statements reveal that the chiefs understood the implications of ceding sovereignty as set out in Article 1 of the Treaty of Waitangi.
https://www.hobsonspledge.nz/chiefs_understood_that_ceding_sovereignty_meant_british_rule