Unfortunately there have been incidents in the past, where the formalities at Waitangi have been marred by protests, political grandstanding and the jostling of dignitaries.
February 6 should be a day when we celebrate unity in diversity, and media reports should be about people getting together in positive ways in our multi-cultural society. This is what the Canadians and Australians do on their national days.
Bicultural to multicultural
In 1840 New Zealand was a thinly populated country with peoples from two cultures:
Bicultural to multicultural
In 1840 New Zealand was a thinly populated country with peoples from two cultures:
- descendants of Polynesian migrants who began arriving a few centuries before
- settlers of European origin, mainly from Britain, New South Wales, Europe and the United States.
Whatever their origins, all the people of New Zealand are equally important and Waitangi Day should celebrate our diversity and the cultural mix in our society.
What the Treaty (Te Tiriti) said
“Treaty obligations” is a phrase that slips easily off the tongue and the pen, and various claims are consequently made. However, in a recent letter to the Dominion Post the writer commented everyone needs to “read the Treaty fairly” before claiming anything.
In Article 1 of Te Tiriti, the chiefs of New Zealand granted sovereignty to Queen Victoria and her heirs forever. This undertaking was later endorsed by over 100 chiefs at the Kohimarama Conference in 1860.
In the second article the chiefs and tribes, and all the people of New Zealand — nga tangata katoa o Nu Tirani – were guaranteed full possession of their lands, dwellings and all their property. There was no mention of Fisheries or Forests.
Article 3 was a deal – in return for granting Queen Victoria sovereignty over Nu Tirani, all the people of New Zealand were given “the rights and privileges of British subjects”. The natives, later called Maori, were thus given equal privileges, but not special rights.
It was all very straight-forward with no mention of a partnership, principles or co-governance. It is crucial for politicians, and anyone making claims about what the Treaty promised, to link their ideas to one or more of the Articles.
Roger Childs is a writer and freelance journalist. He is a former history and geography teacher, who wrote or co-authored 10 school textbooks. This article was first published HERE
7 comments:
Thanks for the reminder, Roger - your 'little candle' I have no good feeling about Waitangi Day, and just relief when it is past - yes that is sad.
Roger has clearly read the Treaty. A simple effective document that achieved the goals of the parties. End of story. I wonder how many of today’s experts have actually read it?
Yes, very timely Roger. And here we are 183 years later with some (including far too many politicians) attempting to reinvent what it said and to divide this nation into a bi-cultural state - Maori (with additional privileges), and everyone else.
The Treaty has long since outlived its purpose, so let's have that referendum on its future import, move on and celebrate our unity as one.
Thanks Roger. The "Treaty" not exactly overflowing with complex concepts, but clearly too much for some past and present Prime Ministers to absorb.
One would think with their lack of understanding that they were signaling that it's no longer of any real consequence (which, indeed, should now be the case) but, oh no, they pass laws incorporating mythical "treaty principles" that I'll wager they also couldn't define.
It's now time we moved on.
It really is that simple, as you have written in your last 5 paragraphs, Roger.
The Kohimaramara conference records demonstrate that.
The Treaty was a simple document of unity under the Crown. This was entirely appropriate and logical at the time.
There was NO partnership implied or described.
Their is NO "co-governance" implied or stated.
There are NO "principles". The words speak for themselves, and are clear.
Article 3 makes it clear that unity of all peolpes of New Zealand was the over-riding intent.
All the complicated revisions of the Treaty and what it says by latter day activist politicians, judges and divisive racists are all totally fabricated, and are NOT based upon the actual Treaty document.
The Waitangi Tribunal has actually admitted this, when they say on their website that they need to "go beyond the words of the Treaty". Translation:- They will re write the Treaty in the 21st Century, to suit their agenda
At the launch of the book "Forbidden History", by John Dudley Aldworth, a leader from the Patupaiarehe people who arrived over 1000 years before Maori, and lived in peace with the Waitaha people, related that she had made a speech to the Waitangi Tribunal. She was told to "shut up and sit down because she was extinct"! What gross effrontery! There are no prizes for guessing what happened to her ancestors.
Kevan.
Hear, hear, Doug. So one has to ask, why nearly two centuries later are we endeavouring to rewrite its meaning and make life so complicated, divisive and, by its nature, expensive for ourselves? Have we learnt nothing - that apartheid doesn't work?
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