Venu Menon
Wellington, February 6,2024
“This is the biggest crowd here that I’ve ever seen at a Waitangi celebration. And I know it’s because Te Tiriti [Treaty of Waitangi] is currently under threat by our current government. I’m upset, and I know that you’re upset too,” said Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau.
She was addressing a large gathering at the Waitangi Park, along the iconic Wellington waterfront, where daylong festivities were taking place to mark Waitangi Day on February 6.
The crowd cheered as the mayor stoked public sentiment around the three-party coalition government’s commitment to review the principles inherent in the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document signed between the British and Maori chiefs in 1840.
Mayor Whanau pressed on:
“That’s why it’s more important than ever that we have to come together as a community and support Te Tiriti.”
The mayor drew applause as she promised “as your mayor, and our Maori mayor” to uphold Ti Tiriti.
Onstage with the mayor were local iwi, Members of Parliament and Wellington City Councillors.
A member of tangata whenua (local Maori) , who addressed the crowd, harked on the “efforts of the present tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti to secure a better future for all Maori and non-Maori of Aotearoa New Zealand.”
His words were greeted with applause.
He added: “The Tiriti o Waitangi is for the past, present and future.”
The speaker stressed the importance of partnership.
“Like most partnerships, there are ups and there are downs. The partnership guaranteed in the Tiriti o Waitangi is clear…… finding common ground where……promises can coexist.”
That, he said, was the role and responsibility of tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti. Working together to achieve common goals is the “principle of Te Ao Maori [Maori world] that balances the natural tension of partnership.”
“Kotahitanga [unity] is the solution for the motu [country] to move forward as a people and as a nation,” he said.
The Treaty of Waitangi “gives expression to protection, but is captured better as Kaitiakitanga [guardianship}.”
In other words, the Treaty is the guardian of the Maori.
“We have seen governments come and go. We have experienced various groups come and go. What remains, every single time, is us,” the iwi representative wrapped up to ringing applause.
Earlier, a hikoi, or protest march, in support of Maori rights blocked traffic enroute to the venue.
The celebrations were marked by invocations of the Treaty of Waitangi, karakia and mihi [prayer and welcome], a rousing group song by schoolchildren, foot-tapping music by a local Maori band, and variety entertainment by different communities in Wellington.
A newly commissioned, collaborative artwork by tangata whenua artist Keri-Mei Zagrobelna and tangata Tiriti artist Tina Rae Carter, currently underway onsite, was a key attraction on the occasion, as were the food stalls serving traditional kai as well as multicultural fare.
Venu Menon is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Wellington
