Waitangi Day!

Hi everyone! Welcome to another post! Today I will be sharing with you some information on Waiting day, why it is important and some history behind it. I hope you enjoy reading my post and learn something from it!

Waitangi Day:

Credit: https://thelendingpeople.co.nz/waitangi-day-2018/

Waitangi Day is on the 6th of February and is celebrated every year to commemorate the signing of the Te Tiriti o Waiting (The Treaty of Waitangi). It was announced as a national holiday in 1974. It is very important for everyone living in New Zealand because it is an important part of our history. Waiting Day is celebrated everywhere in New Zealand but other people traditionally celebrated it in the Treaty Grounds in Waitangi.

What is the Treaty of Waitangi?

The treaty of Waitangi is an agreement between the representatives of the British Crown (England and the Queen) and representatives of the Māori people. The agreement is about the British's sovereignty over New Zealand. This means that the British Crown has complete power over New Zealand. There are a total of 3 articles in the Treaty of Waitangi.

1. The Queen (or King) of England has the right to rule of New Zealand.
2. The Māori chiefs would keep their land and their chieftainships and would agree to sell their land only to British Monarch. (Royal Family)

Credit:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
/Treaty_of_Waitangi#/media/File:Treatyofwaitangi.jpg

3. That all Māori would have the same rights as British subjects.

Articles 2 and 3 still cause problems today.

Māori chiefs originally were the ones who asked for the treaty. This was because of the increased population from other countries (European Countries) and there were no official laws in the time. Which caused many crimes and fights. They sent a letter to William IV in 1831 seeking protection. After two years the British Crown sent their representative James Busby, he was also the first British resident. After that many events happened including The Declaration of Independence of New Zealand, the signing of the treaty and the New Zealand Wars.

These wars occurred because of the misunderstanding on the treaty, this caused large amounts of land to be confiscated from the Māori. These were all very important parts of the history of New Zealand.




Well, that is all for now, I hope you enjoyed reading and learning about Waitangi day and Te Tiriti of Waitangi. Have a great day!