Waitangi DayWaitangi Day

Reviews the historic events behind the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 and charts the celebrations, tensions and protests witnessed in the years that followed, concluding with a summary of the Waitangi Day events held around the country on 6th February today. Includes the first interactions in Northland with Maori, sealers, whalers and missionaries to the gifting of the treaty grounds by Lord and Lady Bledisloe, the impact of the New Zealand Wars and two World Wars, royal visits, the rise of Maori activism and claims for sovereignty. Historic and colour photographs portray the numerous historic sites in and around the Bay of Islands which have relevance to the Waitangi story, and record the politics of change that led to formal recognition of The Waitangi Day Act in 1976.