Waitangi Day

The first six months of the year are great in New Zealand because you get a public holiday nearly every month, which means a long weekend from work, yay! This of course means the last half of the year can seem like it drags a bit, but oh well, for now I intend to enjoy the days we get out of the office.

This weekend is Waitangi Weekend. February 6 marks the day the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840. The first official Waitangi Day was in 1934 and it became a public holiday in 1974.

The Treaty is one of New Zealand’s founding documents and was signed between Maori Chiefs and British Crown representatives at Waitangi, in the Bay of Islands.
The Treaty came about when the British government made the decision to gain sovereignty over New Zealand. There had been significant migration from England, and plans for major land settlement were under way.

The Treaty was prepared in English under the direction of Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson. A missionary and his son translated the document into Maori. The Maori Chiefs deliberated for 24 hours before some agreed to sign the Treaty. The Treaty was sent around the country to be signed by others in the next few months. Not all signed, but in May of 1840 full British sovereignty over New Zealand was declared. Unfortunately the understanding of the full meaning behind the Treaty was not always consistent between the Maori and the British, which has led to a long history of debates. In 1975 the Waitangi Tribunal was created for investigation of breaches by the Crown.

My first year in New Zealand, I stumbled on a museum in Wellington which houses the Treaty of Waitangi and other important historical documents. It is quite a feeling to see such an important piece of history; hopefully I can one day see similar things for my own country!