The entire issue is further complicated by the fact that, at the time, writing was a novel introduction to Māori society. As members of a predominately oral society, Māori present at the signing of the treaty would have placed more value and reliance on what Hobson and the missionaries said, rather than the written words of the treaty document. Although there is still a great deal of scholarly debate surrounding the extent to which literacy had permeated Māori society at the time of the signing, what can be stated with clarity is that of the 600 plus rangatira who signed the written document only 12 signed their names in the Latin alphabet. Many others conveyed their identity by drawing parts of their "moko" (personal facial tattoo), while still others marked the document with an X.