Waitangi day

February 6 is a public holiday in NZ. On that day is celebrated how the state of NZ came to be, because on February 6 1840 the Treaty of Waitangi has been signed. During that period both England and France were planning to colonize NZ. The original inhabitants, the Maori, were more afraid of the French than of the English, so they asked the English for protection, in exchange for sovereignty. England accepted, and thus NZ has become the only colony ever to sign a treaty with the English, all the other colonies were just bluntly taken. NZ does not even have a constitution; the treaty is the document on which the country of NZ is founded.

The treaty was made up and signed in two versions: the Maori version and the English version. Both versions are not identical though, so already from the day the treaty was signed the two parties have been bickering over which version is more valid, and what the text actually means. And I must say, in the past the English didn’t really care if there was a treaty, they did with the land and its people as they saw fit. They have committed horrible crimes against the Maori. During the last few decades there has been a change for the better though, and the current NZ government really tries to come to a good solution and to right the wrongs from the past.

Of course some Maori think they can never be compensated enough, while others think that all the bickering has gone on far too long, that we have the future to worry about, and we have to try to make the best of it; we are all living here now and nothing is going to change that anyway. And then there are some European Kiwis who think that the Maori are already being over-compensated and over-favoured.

Therefore Waitangy day is a bit of a celebration with mixed emotions. One person celebrates the founding of NZ as we know it, the other sees the day as the ultimate day to protest against the government. This year, for the first time ever, the day was really a celebration for Kiwi and Maori alike, celebrating the fact that they are all living together in this beautiful country. Hopefully it will stay that way.

Whatever happens, it is a day off too and to me those are always welcome :-)