February 6
New Zealand’s national holiday celebrates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi on this day (February 6) in 1840.
The word ‘celebrate’ is disputed though. The treaty was the original agreement between representatives of the British Crown and the Maori chieftains, and its signing is considered the birth of New Zealand. However, to many Maori—the indigenous descendants who make up about a sixth of New Zealand’s population—the Treaty represents the country’s ‘original sin’.
The problem …Read more
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