Waitangi Day

Waitangi Day is one of New Zealand's public holidays, which commemorates the day the treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840. The treaty was signed in the town of Waitangi on February 6, 1840 and is considered to be New Zealand's founding document. The treaty gave Maori rights as British citizens, guaranteed land rights to the Maori, and made New Zealand a part of the British empire. There were, however, differences between the Maori and the English translations which over time has led to differing opinions over what was really intended by the document, and has subsequently led to ongoing debates over the document. My understanding is that there are still debates at present day over some things, mostly land, but I do not pretend to be an expert so I would recommend doing a bit of research if you want to know specific details. The day was made a national holiday in 1957, 10 after annual celebrations of the event began.

The original treaty documents can be viewed at one of the government offices in Wellington. I have been to see them on one of my trips to the capitol, and remember thinking now that I've seen New Zealand's founding documents, I should visit DC so I can see my own country's founding documents :)

Waitangi day fell on a Friday this year, which meant a 3 day weekend from work, yippee. It was not a terribly warm day, unfortunately, but we did manage a bit of cultural celebrations.

Oakura Pa (a Maori settlement location) was having a celebration. So we went for a nice stroll along the beach and then headed to the Pa. They were serving Hangi (traditional Maori meal), although we unfortunately got there too late to have any as they ran out quicker than anticipated. There were traditional crafts such as woven baskets for sale (and not so traditional things such as jewelry, paintings, etc) for sale, which were delightful to look at, and gave me some wonderful ideas for future decorating. I think my favorite part was listening to the live music though. There were several groups performing, including a traditional Maori group singing in Te Reo (Maori) and finishing up with a Haka. Myself and two other Americans plus a couple of Maori friends enjoyed just relaxing outdoors in the festive environment.

After we were done in the great outdoors, we went back to town and had a kiwi BBQ for supper, yum :)

There were lots of flags in town this week