Every year on 6 February, New Zealand marks the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. In that year, representatives of the British Crown and over 500 Maori chiefs signed what is New Zealand’s founding document. The day was first officially commemorated in 1934, and it has been a public holiday since 1974.
For some people, Waitangi Day is a holiday; for many, and especially for Maori, it is the occasion for reflecting on the Treaty. Since the 1970s the style and mood of the commemorations on Waitangi Day have been influenced by the increasingly heated debate surrounding the place of the Treaty in modern New Zealand.
Waitangi Day is recognised as New Zealand’s national day, but the long-standing tensions associated with it are always likely to surface in one form or another. The date is an important marker in the country’s history. Recognition of the significance of the Treaty of Waitangi as the nation’s founding document will continue to encourage leaders, communities and individuals to mark the day in new ways.
History of Waitangi Day New Zealand
In 1932 Governor-General Lord Bledisloe gifted the Treaty House and grounds at Waitangi to the nation. He hoped that the site would become a national memorial, symbolising that the Treaty of Waitangi had initiated a unique relationship between the indigenous and the colonising peoples.
This partnership was reflected in the membership of a trust board set up to develop the property, which would include representatives of descendants of those involved in making the Treaty in 1840. The first board included Kirihi Te Riri Maihi Kawiti as a representative of northern chiefs of 1840. The partnership was also marked by a decision to build a whare runanga to stand near the Treaty House. In both the trust board and the building project, northern chief Tau Henare took a leading role.
In February 1934 Bledisloe’s gift was marked by celebrations. A pattern for subsequent events was set. It involved two sites – the Treaty House grounds (where the whare runanga would be built) and Te Tii marae close by – several organising bodies (Maori, Pakeha and government) and Bledisloe’s prayer that ‘the sacred compact made in these waters may be faithfully and honourably kept for all time to come’. A second prayer hoped that the two races might unite as one nation through Christianity – Bledisloe’s interpretation of Lieutenant-Governor Hobson’s words at the 1840 signing, ‘He iwi tahi tatou’ (Now we are one people).
Up to 10,000 Maori attended the 1934 celebrations. The events had special meaning for many as they looked back to their independent status before the signing of the Treaty: 1834, when northern tribes chose a national flag at Waitangi, and 1835 when they issued the Declaration of Independence.
Maori and Pakeha perceptions of past and present events were clearly at variance in 1934. Waitangi became a stage on which the interplay of relationships – past and present – would be repeated. There would inevitably be clashes.
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