The grounds are a lovely park, with expansive views of the surrounding islands and bays. In the middle of the grounds sits a flagpole commemorating the three different flags that have flown in NZ - the union jack, the first NZ flag (which is still recognized as a maritime flag), and also the current NZ flag. Interestingly, right now there is a big controversy here in NZ as the current government has commissioned the country as a whole to consider adopting a new, as yet undecided flag. As they say...keep tuned...
The grounds were not marked or preserved in any way after the signing of the Treaty in 1840, and by the early 1900s had actually fallen into disrepair. Indeed, the entire area was to be sold to developers for development as small plots for homes/farming. Fortunately in the early 1900s a Governor of the area understood the historic nature of the area, purchased the land and donated it to the NZ government. The home of the Governor was refurbished and a Maori meeting hall was built.
A museum has been built explaining the Treaty and the history of NZ, and we took a wonderful and informative tour with a Maori guide who walked us over the entire grounds, ending at the Maori community hall. There at the Hall we saw the Haka and then once inside we watched a musical performance by some locals. Lindsay was in the front row and was a little spooked actually! There was a lot of yelling, intimidating poses and weapon play, and also some acrobatics with sticks. Very in your face, and very expressive.
At the end of the performance we even got a picture with the performers as a family!
And now we will do our best now to summarize the historical meaning, significance, and controversies of the Treaty (and apologies if we get any of this wrong.) For a fuller explanation here is the wikipedia link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Waitangi
There was actually a mutual desire from both English and Maori to have an agreement about how the British would govern the area. For the Maori people, the sheer numbers of settlers arriving, combined with the lawlessness and criminality of some of the British settlers, and the brutality of a local group of French settlers, impressed upon the Maori chiefs the need to have some sort of understanding of how the British crown would govern their subjects, as well as protect Maori lands and interests from the settlers and also from the French. For the British, the treaty formalized their desire to claim governance over New Zealand and to come to an agreement with the local, non-British peoples over the terms of that claim.
The Treaty is actually relatively short, and consists of a few principles. First, that the Queen of England would have "sovereignty" over the area and establish "governance" over the area (more on this later). Second, that the Maori chiefs would retain "possession" over their lands and if they chose to sell lands at an agreeable price, it would be to the British crown or its subjects. Third, that the Maori people would in fact be granted full rights as British subjects.
The writing of the Treaty was done in English, translated to the Maori, and most of the versions that were signed were in the Maori language. The interpretations of the Treaty on both sides is made more difficult given the fact that at the time the Maori was a more oral than written language, and also that there were not perfect translations between english and Maori to describe "sovereignty", "Governance" or "possession". For instance, whereas the Treaty in english granted the Crown sovereignty and governing authority over New Zealand, the Maori believed they were signing an agreement meaning the British would govern their own subjects, and that the local Maori would retain oversight and sovereignty over their own peoples. The source of much of the controversy and misunderstanding stems from these issues. Indeed, after the signing of the agreement, there was much warring and disagreement between the British and Maori in the 1840s. The distrust and disagreements continue to the modern era, with specific protest movements occurring in the 1970s and 1990s.
The influence of the Treaty on modern day NZ is actually pretty remarkable. As we have mentioned before, the country really has a very strong feeling of integration between European/Western and Maori cultures, compared with that of US and Native American cultures for instance. In fact, that doesn't seem to even be a fair comparison. We would say it is more like that of a very integrated, multicultural society such as in New York, San Francisco or Honolulu. This seems an apt comparison given the amount of immigration from Eastern Asian (Thai, Chinese) and Polynesian (Samoan) cultures to NZ, with most of those families working in service industries.
To be sure, the Maori feel marginalized and there is quite a difference in socioeconomic levels between Maori and non-Maori peoples, but the attempt by the more dominant white culture to incorporate Maori language, culture and tradition is still laudable, in our opinion. And this stems from the signing of an agreement back in 1840, which attempted to enter two peoples into an agreement to live and govern together with some kind of mutual respect.
We hope that gives you some background on NZ history and culture!
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