NEWS

What happened at Waitangi

Driving south on State Highway 1 in the middle of the night, the crescent moon above, I wonder what this year’s Waitangi Day will hold. My friend, Mikky, who’s Danish-Māori-Australian like me, says she’s eager to soak it all in, whatever the day brings. My 11-year-old daughter Audrey is groggy from our 2.30am start.

Māori from all over the motu have been calling for this year’s event to be big. Tension filled the previous days, and protest interrupted political speeches: “E noho,” the crowd told Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters. Sit down. A waiata also drowned Act Party leader David Seymour’s speech—a song which contained the lyrics “Whakarongo, e noho”. Listen, sit down. Launching into waiata is the accepted mode of informing a speaker that the audience does not share their views—or that it’s time to stop talking.

The stars are still out when we arrive at Te Whare Rūnanga marae. People are scattered along the grass on picnic mats and blankets, quiet in the darkness. The air is cool and crisp, but I feel warm with manaakitanga—the feeling of welcome.

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HISTORY

Before Waitangi, a coalition of chiefs declared independence

Every New Zealander has heard of the Treaty of Waitangi. Many even have a rough idea what it says, in its English translation, at least. But perhaps only one in a thousand has heard of the Declaration of Independence.

The majority of New Zealanders would be surprised to learn that we have one. There’s a simple reason for this knowledge gap.

According to the conventional story of the country’s early years, the Treaty is our founding document, and in the Treaty Māori relinquished their political independence when they ceded their sovereignty. So whatever a Declaration of Independence might have meant in 1835, when it was written, it became irrelevant in 1840, and remains so today.

That is not Ngāpuhi’s view.

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SOCIETY

Two peoples, one country:
a collection of stories

From the moment of first contact between Māori and European, the intersection of our cultures and values has defined our history and created the conditions for who we are today.

This best-of collection of New Zealand Geographic stories looks into our most famous haka, explores the history of Matariki, and recounts the life of the brilliant young Tahitian aristocrat Tupaia, who travelled to Aotearoa with the Endeavour and, sharing enough language with Māori, updated East Coast iwi with the latest news from Polynesia.

There’s the story of peaceful protest met with violence at Parihaka, and the return home, last year, of the only remaining Māori sail, and the effort to keep it here.

See all the stories here.