Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Today is a holiday here in New Zealand. In many ways it is THE holiday of all holidays!  It is Waitangi Day or the day that representatives of the British Crown and Maori Tribes signed a treaty. The treaty was to enable the British settlers and Maori people to live together in NZ under a common set of laws or agreements. The treaty aimed to protect the rights of Maori to keep their lands, forests, fisheries and treasures while handing over sovereignty to the English.

The document recognizes that Maori occupied NZ before British settlment, promises to protect Maori culture and to enable Maori to continue living in NZ as Maori, gives the crown the right to govern and establish laws in the interests of all New Zealanders and gives Maori the same rights and status as British citizens.

There were two copies of the document. One was in English and the other in Maori. Because of differences in language and semantics and all those kinds of things there is still great debate as to what the treaty really means. Not too long ago there was a question of water rights in the northern part of the island and Maori said that this treaty gave them the rights. It is still being debated.

It is interesting to me that they do not refer to the original settlers as "the Maori" but simply as "Maori". They are a beautiful people. A very proud people. They are different as well and are not Tongan or Samoan or Fijian but Maori and they will tell you that.

This history lesson can go on here. In 1975 The Waitangi Tribunal was established. This gives Maori a legal process for the investigation of the rights that they feel are being infringed upon by others. The tribunal will investigate (like the water rights issue I mentioned before) and then they make a recommendation on how the problem can and should be resolved. Side note: the inhabitants of NZ are either Maori or Pakeha (non-Maori).

When we went to Bay of Islands with Nate at Christmas time we tried to go to the museum that is built on the spot where this treaty was signed. It may be an important part of their history but they have bankers hours and were closed by 5 p.m. well before anyone that was enjoyiing the water and sand of the area to visit. So we were at the building but did not manage to get in.  Sorry, no photos to accompany this post.