Happy Waitangi Day

Today is Waitangi Day in New Zealand.

The Treaty of Waitangi was first signed on February 6, 1840 at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands, (not far from where I'm living) by Maori chiefs and the representative of the British crown. It established British law in New Zealand while guaranteeing the Maori certain rights over their land and laws.

Each year, on Feb 6th, there are celebrations and protests to commemorate the the signing of the treaty. The British and Maori both had different reasons for signing it and there is a lot of animosity and contention now about the meaning of it and how that should translate in to policy and law.

The problems with the Treaty of Waitangi are similar to those of many translated documents - English and Maori versions differ in important ways, particularly in regards to two words. In the English version, the Queen of the United Kingdom (England) is given full sovereignty over New Zealand and the Maori are given full equality as British subjects while granting to the chiefs continued chieftainship and ownership of their lands and treasures. The difficulty arises over the meaning of the Maori words used for sovereignty, "kawanatanga" (literally, governorship) and "rangatiratanga" (literally chieftainship). There are arguments about the meaning of the words in the two translations, as well as whether or not the Maori actually understood the document they were signing since the words represented concepts that were not really part of the Maori frame of reference.

In current times, there is a tribunal to make decisions about possible violations of the Treaty that affect land and resource rights and provide compensation to the Maori (similar to what goes on in other countries with Native claims about land and fishing/hunting rights, but the Maori have it in writing and are not just relying on guilt to force the issue). While the Maori face many of the same issues that the aboriginal populations of other countries are dealing with (alcoholism, addiction, poverty, discrimination, violence, over representation in the legal and other social systems, etc.), overall they seem to be in a better situation. They hold much more political power and positions of power in society than other aboriginal people. This is not to say there isn't much to be done, but, I believe, they are the only indigenous people who got the British to sign a Treaty, even if the British promptly began to use it to take advantage,