OT: New Zealanders

[pmulcahy11b]

I was just glancing at my calendar and found that on the 6th it was Waitangi Day. What is Waitangi Day?

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Basically it's the date of New Zealand's incorporation into the British Empire.
Write-up here is good http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitangi_Day

[kato13]

Tangentially related to the OP. I thought it was interesting so i thought i would share.

Her is a map of all the countries that Great Britain has invaded at some point



Apparently only 22 countries have not been in invaded.

Source:British have invaded nine out of ten countries

[Targan]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

I was just glancing at my calendar and found that on the 6th it was Waitangi Day. What is Waitangi Day?

One of the things that Waitangi Day represents is a major difference between the ways in which Australia and New Zealand were colonised and how the indigenous peoples were treated thereafter. Waitangi Day is named after the Treaty of Waitangi, a treaty signed between representatives of the British Crown and the most powerful Maori tribal groups of the time. From that time forward technically the Maori were legally British subjects, with all of the rights and responsibilities thereof.

The British realised early on (and were violently reminded on many occasions) that the Maori were formidable opponents. They were a warrior race who took great pride in their martial prowess and were quite happy to adapt their strategies and tactics to match the invaders. The Maori very quickly recognised the advantages of firearms and went to great lengths to obtain them.

Throughout the middle and late 1800s various Maori tribal groups were successful in trading commodities such as greenstone (a valuable New Zealand variety of jade) to Australian arms traders and smugglers in return for firearms and ammunition. On many occasions during the Maori Wars, British redcoats found that their Brown Bess muskets were technologically inferior to the firearms the Maoris had obtained.

After the Treaty of Waitangi had been signed, many Maori tribal groups had secure, legal tenure of their tribal lands and many Maori happily joined the British Army and other colonial police and paramilitary units. They were by then citizens after all, and really enjoyed making war. In contrast, Australia didn't recognise Australia's Aboriginal people as people until the 1960s (they weren't citizens and were legally basically part of Australia's wildlife). Australian Aboriginals who wished to join the military often claimed to be from other dark-skinned ethnicities. Quite appalling really.

So Waitangi Day is a day of pride for all New Zealanders, Anglo, Maori and everyone else. And the Treaty of Waitangi was and remains to this day a very important document under New Zealand law.