Waitangi is a public holiday that is celebrated all around New Zealand
3 facts about what you know about the Treaty of Waitangi:
Fact 1: when was it signed
The treaty was signed on February 6th 1840
Fact 2: who signed it
It was signed by the british crown and 50 maori chiefs but by the end of the
year over 500 others signed it which included 13 females.
Fact 3: two different versions
There are two versions of the Treaty of Waitangi, Maori and English.
Both versions presented essential differences in the documents.
The biggest difference in translation would be shown in the first article.
In the English version of the Treaty, it said that in the first article, the
Maori Chiefs gave Sovereignty to the queen which meant absolute control
and power over their land. However, in the Maori version of the Treaty, the
First Article states that the queen will only receive kawanatanga from the
Maori Chiefs which meant governorship. Governorship, in comparison
to sovereignty means a smaller amount of power to the Queen.
There are more differences in translation between both versions of the
Treaty and this resulted in a whole lot of miscommunication.
2-3 different points of view on the Waitangi Day:
Perspective 1: Meng Foon
For Meng Foon, the race relations commissioner and former Gisborne mayor,
Waitangi day is a day that is very spiritual for him because it allowed for his parents to migrate to NZ, because of the treaty itself.
For many years, he has had the honour of presenting a prayer in Chinese
for the dawn service on Waitangi day.
Perspective 2: Jeremy Corbett
For Jeremy Corbett, a well known television broadcaster, contemplating on the signing of the treaty back in 1840 made him want to know more about what had occurred. He knew the clauses of the Treaty but after the signing
of it, he believed that there were errors that needed to be fixed. He goes on
to say that as a country, we have that story of colonisers taking over
the indigenous people and he felt proud that New Zealand is addressing
that.
He understands that Waitangi day is a day of celebration, however, he has
hopes that in the future, NZ will be able to celebrate it in a more guilt-free way
once we come to accept what had been done wrong and all parties can reach
an agreement and acceptance in realising that “this was not the perfect forming
of a nation but we've got a fantastic country”.
Therefore he says that Waitangi day is a time when he needs to take a step
back and see things from the perspective of protesters as a way for him to
understand that they probably have a point.
Perspective 3: Jim Bolger
According to Jim Bolger, former prime minister, the treaty is the founding
document of New Zealand and anyone who disagrees with that statement is
wrong.
Its strong initiatives were unfortunately ignored from the start and looking back
to the signing of the Treaty, it guaranteed that Māori would retain ownership of
their land and water, however, in reflecting on the past and history, it is clear that
wasn't honoured by the crown.
In today’s day in age, there has been some progress and he is very much for
the fact that NZ is now going to teach an honest and true history of New
Zealand's colonial period because when he was in school, he was
not taught an honest history. He grew up close to the great Pa at Parihaka but he was never taught anything about the invasion and the removal of their leaders.
My perspective on whether it is important to celebrate Waitangi day
or not:
I think it is important to learn about Waitangi day so that people can know the
meaning behind it and understand what's happening.
Why is it or isn’t important to learn about the Treaty?
Learning about the treaty is very important, not only because New Zealanders
need to understand the history of how British colonials founded this country but
It is also very important that the true version of that time of history is taught in
schools so that people can learn and understand of the miscommunication that
had occurred during the signing of the treaty. I believe that everyone in NZ
needs to know the true history of the Treaty of Waitangi because we need to
understand how the indigenous Maori people of NZ received a different version
and had a different understanding of what they were agreeing to.
