Waitangi Day

Waitangi Day or New Zealand Day, national holiday in New Zealand. Celebrated on February 6 since the early 1960s, it commemorates the Treaty of Waitangi (February 6, 1840) that was signed between some 70 Maori chieftains and Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson on behalf of Queen Victoria. It was, and remains, the basis for civil government in New Zealand. Waitangi is the name of the river, in the Bay of Islands, North Island, by which the treaty was signed.

The treaty was originally regarded as a symbol of respect for the rights of indigenous people by a colonial power. However, more recently, it has been denounced as a fraudulent abasement of Maori land claims. Thus the day of national celebration has become in recent times a focus of emotional protest against the treaty. Ironically, waitangi means “noisy” or “weeping waters”.