February 6 – what is Waitangi Day and how does New Zealand celebrate it

Waitangi Day, every February 6th, is celebrated by people throughout the country of New Zealand, particularly in the Bay Islands.
Events can last for up to three days, including a special opening service takes place at dawn on Waitangi Day at the Treaty Grounds.
Other activities including political speeches, parades, ceremonies, musical performances and so much more.

The main Waitangi Day celebration occurs in Waitangi at the Treaty Grounds. The country’s leaders and communities gather there each year to honour the day. The day begins with a dawn service at 5am in Te Whare Runanga, the carved meeting house. After the dawn service, there are celebrations all day across the Treaty Grounds and the rest of the country, where you’ll find Waitangi Day traditions like dance and music performances, and lots of local artists and performers. There are also flag-raising ceremonies and a 21-gun salute from the Royal NZ Army. Navy ships and waka (Māori canoes) put on a thrilling showcase on the water, and you’ll even see Ngātokimatawhaorua, New Zealand’s largest ceremonial war canoe displaying its prowess.
There are also market stalls and children’s activities and games, picnics and family gatherings all across the nation.

Considered to be a sort of National Day of New Zealand, it commemorates the historical signing of the treaty of Waitangi, which took place, not by chance, on February 6, 1840.
This treaty, the founding document of New Zealand, established a political agreement between the native Māori people and the representatives of the British Crown, and its purpose was to ensure a peaceful future for everyone in the places that is now the nation of New Zealand.
The Māori people agreed to let other people live on their land, allowing the British to make rules and require people to live by them.
It wasn’t until almost a century later that the initial observance of New Zealand’s Waitagi Day took place, more precisely in 1934.
It was on this day that a special gathering (hui) took place at the site of the original signing of the treaty in the Bay Islands, initiated by New Zealand’s then Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe.
The hope was that the Treaty House, the site of the original signing would become a national monument and a memorial to the relationship between the colonizing people with the native Māori.

Some of the various local celebratory activities might include different cultural aspects of the Māori people, such as dances, foods and waka canoe races.
The first humans to occupy what is now New Zealand, the Māori people settled there approximately 1200 years ago, and their name means “ordinary people” in the tribal language!
Māori people were known to be skilled artists, mastering the art of weaving as well as carving detailed wooden war canoes, and tattoos are a significant part of the Māori culture, uniquely reflecting a person’s ancestry and family history.

Images from web – Google Research