Waitangi Day: What does it mean to modern New Zealand?

Friday, 27 January 2023

What led to the signing of the most important document in New Zealand's history? (Video first published 2021)

It is New Zealand’s founding document, forged on the promise of a partnership between Māori and the British Crown.

Read this story in te reo Māori and English here. / Pānuitia tēnei i te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā ki konei.

But the history of Te Tiriti o Waitangi is complex, and the corresponding public holiday means different things to different people.

For some, Waitangi Day is a chance to reflect on the intentions of signatories in 1840. For others, it’s a time of celebration and an opportunity to look to the future.

* How the good intentions of 'New Zealand Day' diminished the mana of the Treaty

* Imagining the mamae and riri – pain and anger – of those who signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Is Waitangi Day a celebration, a commemoration or a day of commiseration?

University of Waikato’s Professor Tom Roa (Waikato Maniapoto) views Waitangi Day in a few different lights.

He sees it as a celebration, a commemoration and a commiseration wrapped into one, taking into account the vast history of Aotearoa since the signing.

Tom Roa says Waitangi Day holds several meanings for himself and his hapū.

Te Tiriti is an important document which recognised the need to better formalise a relationship between the British Crown and rangatira Māori (Māori leaders), he says.

It was hoped Te Tiriti would allow for greater governorship over unruly Pākehā, while cementing a partnership between the Crown and Māori.

“I suggest our tūpuna saw an advantage in allowing that governorship without surrendering, in any way, their mana Māori motuhake, their autonomy, independence and control over their own resources,” says Roa.

Chris Finlayson spent nine years as the Treaty negotiations minister between 2008 and 2017.

While the English and te reo Māori versions differed, the promise of a government and strength of organisation brought by the British would have been attractive to rangatira.

In the decade following the signing, that promise was well on its way to being realised as Māori and Pākehā comfortably coexisted in towns like Rangiaowhia, Roa says.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t to last. The future from that point would be marked with Treaty breaches, greed and a gross misuse of power.

“So with that background, I think Te Tiriti, and I'm talking about the Māori version here, is something to celebrate,” he says.

“But the misuse and abuse of power and the advancement of greed unfortunately caused the proverbial to hit the fan.

“Personally, and amongst our hapū, we celebrate and commemorate Te Tiriti, we commiserate with the after-effects of the misuse and abuse of power, which saw lands, lives and livelihoods lost.”

Former Treaty negotiations minister Chris Finlayson takes an optimistic view of Waitangi Day, viewing it as a celebration of nationhood.

Thinking about the past, Finalyson recalls how February 6 was once known as New Zealand Day.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi can be viewed in the He Tohu permanent exhibition at the National Library in Wellington.

That name was introduced in 1973 by then-Prime Minister Norman Kirk. It was later reversed through the Waitangi Day Act 1976 under Robert Muldoon’s National Government.

“It’s appropriate that we don’t call it New Zealand Day but Waitangi Day, to emphasise what happened on February 6 up in Waitangi, but I see it as a celebration,” says Finlayson.

“As I said, in both of my maiden speech and valedictory speeches, I have a very firm view that some countries have problems, but New Zealand has a project, and it’s an exciting one.”

While having an understanding of past breaches and grievances was important, Finlayson believes it’s not something to get overburdened by.

And while our Treaty dispute resolution system is not perfect, he says there is likely no other country that has done it as well as New Zealand.

Professor Ella Henry (Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Kurī) from Auckland University of Technology views Waitangi Day as a celebration and commemoration rolled into one.

February 6, 1840, was the day Aotearoa entered into a partnership with the British, and was the reason we now live together, she says.

“Whether it is harmoniously or not depends on the time, but none of us would be here in the ways that we are now without the Treaty.

“So it is a commemoration for those of us who are Māori,” she says, “and who've seen real progress in recent decades around resolution of Treaty grievances, acknowledgement of the value of te reo me ngā tikanga to New Zealand society.”

For non-Māori who viewed Te Tiriti as an important part of our history, Waitangi Day was a celebration as well, Henry says.

Looking forward, she believes Aotearoa has the ability to lead the world in how it responds to indigenous needs in a fair and honourable way.