New Zealand has been inhabited by the indigenous Maori people for more than 1000 years. The first European (Pakeha) to see the country, in 1642, was the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman. But the English explorer James Cook, who landed there in 1769, was responsible for New Zealand becoming part of the British Empire and, later, the British Commonwealth. In 1840 the Treaty of Waitangi was signed between Maori leaders and Lieutenant-Governor Hobson on behalf of the British Government. The three articles of the Treaty gave powers of Sovereignty to the Queen of England; guaranteed to the Maori Chiefs and tribes full, exclusive and undisturbed possession of their lands, estates, forests and fisheries; and extended to the Maori people Royal protection and all the rights and privileges of British subjects.