BS: Waitangi Day

Subject: BS: Waitangi Day
From: RangerSteve
Date: 07 Feb 03 - 06:39 AM

I didn't have time to bring this up yesterday (Feb.6), but my desk calendar at work shows that Feb.6 is Waitangi Day in New Zealand with no further explanation. I have a CD of Maori music that I can play, but otherwise, what should I do? Is it a solemn occasion, or should I get out the pretzels and beer? Is it celebrated by the Maoris, the colonists, or both? If its a Maori celebration, I won't tatoo my face.   Thanks, Steve

Subject: RE: BS: Waitangi Day
From: Willa
Date: 07 Feb 03 - 12:48 PM

My son and daughter-in-law are in NZ. This from a recent email.
Tonight we go to Waitangi to see the place where the Maoris and the British signed the treaty which marks the birth of New Zealand

http://www.vnz.co.nz/facts/waitangi.shtml

Subject: RE: BS: Waitangi Day
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 07 Feb 03 - 05:51 PM

Depends which side of the fence you sit... Brits celebrate it as the birth of New Zealand, Maoris mourn it as the beginning of the end for Aotearoa.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Waitangi Day
From: Little Robyn
Date: 07 Feb 03 - 06:34 PM

Early in 1840 the British representatives of Queen Victoria organised a gathering of all Maori Chiefs at Waitangi, in the far north, where they discussed/argued the future of New Zealand.
About 5 years earlier, a group of 35 Chiefs, with the help of James Busby, had signed a Declaration of Independance, with the aim of keeping their own power in this country but asking the King to be a protector. It was pretty wild and lawless at that time and one individual named Charles, Baron de Thierry, had declared he was going to claim Sovereignty and was preparing to assume authority.
The Declaration didn't go far enough to stop all the rip-off land deals and things were getting out of hand again. So when Governor Hobson arrived he took steps to formalize an agreement to sort out the mess.
He wrote the Treaty, assisted by others who had lived here awhile and knew what was going on. Then the Chiefs all argued about the pros and cons, some agreeing and some fiercely against any interferance from strangers. In the end it was signed by some (and not by others), on 6 February 1840. Then copies were translated into Maori and sent around the country so other Chiefs had a chance to sign as well, later in the year.
The original Treaty had three main articles tho' a fourth was added later.
Very basically, the articles are:
1 The Chiefs cede Sovereignty to the Queen.
2 Her Majesty guarantees their possesion of the land, forests and fisheries, as long as they wish but if they want to sell, then the Queen's representatives will organise things. (This is the one that causes arguments today.)
3 The Queen will extend her protection to all natives of NZ and they will have the same rights and privileges of British subjects.
The fourth article, added later, was suggested by the missionaries, ensuring freedom of religion.
In the following years, many things went wrong (as they do) and today there are many individuals who claim a raw deal for their tribe.
So while the signing is celebrated by some as NZ's Magna Carta, others use the day to protest against the Goverment.
Our family just enjoy a holiday!
So, Steve, you could happily do all of those things quite safely - I don't think there are many activists in your part of the world.

Subject: RE: BS: Waitangi Day
From: SINSULL
Date: 07 Feb 03 - 06:39 PM

Thanks, Robin. I too saw Waitangi on my calendar and didn't have a clue.

Subject: RE: BS: Waitangi Day
From: RangerSteve
Date: 07 Feb 03 - 06:45 PM

Thanks, Robyn. I'll just play my Maori CD and leave it at that. It's great music, by the way.

Subject: RE: BS: Waitangi Day
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 08 Feb 03 - 04:31 AM

I recall that whilst I was in New Zealand in 1986, Waitangi day passed like the Good Friday Bank Holiday in Britain... a nice day off work if you could, but not really worth getting excited about... but I was in an exclusively white neighbourhood... and my sister wouldn't dream of going to any Maori event....

As she didn't work and her husband is a nurse, it just passed like any other bank holiday with family except there was a Maori event on the news that didn't involve them getting their heads kicked in by whites.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Waitangi Day
From: Hrothgar
Date: 08 Feb 03 - 08:13 PM

If you walk out the front door of the Treaty House at Waitangi. there is a magnificient view of the Bay of Islands spread out in front of you.

It is a superb setting for a major occasion in a country's history, and beats hollow any of the buildings in cities that other countries might hold dear.