Representatives of the Queen of England and leaders of
the Maori population signed the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 as an agreement making
New Zealand one of Britain’s colonies. The signing day, February 6th,
is still celebrated annually as a national holiday, the so-called Waitangi Day.
The signing of the treaty marks the beginning of the creation of mutual life of
the Maori and Non-Maori in New Zealand.
A painting of the signing of the Treaty of
Waitangi (teara.govt.nz)
The treaty has changed life in New Zealand to a
certain extent. The connection between the native Maori population and the remaining
people is governed by the Treaty of Waitangi. Moreover, it guarantees that the
rights of all the inhabitants are protected equally. Within the treaty it is
accepted that the Maori are allowed to organize and protect their way of life
and control the resources they own. The treaty caused the Maori language to
become one of the official languages of New Zealand along with English and sign
language. Furthermore, names of important places, mostly government related,
are written in English and the Maori language to show the equality of all the
inhabitants of New Zealand especially under the law. Not only the Maori language
was made nearly equivalent to the English language, but also the Maori culture has
become more and more represented and a television channel was established.
The Treaty of Waitangi (teara.govt.nz)
The treaty has caused a lot of debate when it was
signed in 1840 and still does. Today we know that the translation from English to
the Maori language maybe was not as appropriate as it was hoped for. People
thought the treaty would create unity, but in the end it caused a huge conflict.
The English and the Maori version did not quite correspond with each other.
To read more about the signing of the Treaty of
Waitangi and how the founding document influenced the history of New Zealand
click on the following link: http://treaty2u.govt.nz/
