Once upon a treaty
Preparations are already under way to mark 180 years since the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by the British Crown.
In February 2020, it will be 180 years since the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by the British Crown and the first 43 of more than 500 Maori chiefs of the North Island of New Zealand. Preparations are already under way to mark the commemoration at Waitangi Treaty Grounds, near Paihia in the Bay of Islands region, three hours by road north of Auckland.
On a recent visit to the site, which presides over a grassed headland, I expect to spend about an hour but stay a great deal longer. The Treaty House dates to 1834 as the original four-room residence, with later additions, of the official British Resident, James Busby. It’s filled with family artefacts, plaster walls scraped back to show narrow lath slats, and a cottage garden is blooming with lavender.
I catch a robust and highly enjoyable cultural performance in the intricately carved meeting house nearby, and amble along elevated boardwalks that wind through native ferns, conifers and towering totara trees to a waterfront pavilion sheltering a massive waka, or ceremonial war canoe, built from kauri logs and lashed with flax. It takes 80 rugby-shouldered rowers to get it moving on Waitangi Day.
In the Te Kongahu Museum of Waitangi, near the entry gate, opened in 2016, taonga, or treasures, with connections to Waitangi, continue to be drawn from public and private collections across NZ to augment an already impressive display, with more to be added, no doubt, for the 2020 events. Here there is no attempt to either gloss over or dwell righteously on the injustices and breaches of the treaty. A clear timeline indicates the battles, physical and legal, won and lost, that have defined the protracted process of redress.
It’s the wording of this sign, proud and hopeful in its sentiments, near the museum exit that affects me most. In 1840, Chief Nopera Pana-kareao, the final speaker on the day of the signing, addressed his people thus. Less than a year later, heavy with disillusionment, he reversed his statement.
There is much, indeed, to consider here in the clear, cold light of history.
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