Waitangi Day marks the first signing of New Zealand's founding document: The Treaty of Waitangi or Te Tiriti o Waitangi in ...

New Zealand Maori activist Tame Iti gestures at the Waitangi Treaty House grounds ahead of Waitangi Day celebrations in Waitangi, northern New Zealand, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, center, arrives on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025, for the Waitangi Day ceremonies at Ōnuku Marae, New Zealand. Credit: AP/Kai Schwoerer ...

New Zealand’s right-wing National Party-led coalition government used Waitangi Day on February 6, the country’s national day, to stoke racial divisions and divert attention from its escalating ...

Eventually, a national holiday was granted from 1974 onwards, but it was called “New Zealand Day”; however, only a few years later, the Waitangi Day Act 1976 reinstated the name to Waitangi Day.

This year's Waitangi Day is bigger than any of the past 30 years, as Māori from all over Aotearoa unite against a controversial government bill that could change the Treaty of Waitangi.

ANALYSIS | Waitangi Day commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand's founding document in 1840, but there's more to this Treaty than just putting ink to paper.

Waitangi Day: Thousands gather in NZ with Māori rights in focus. 6 February 2025. Share Save. Kathryn Armstrong. BBC News. Share Save. Getty Images. The Treaty of Waitangi was signed between many ...

Waitangi Day: Thousands gather in NZ with Māori rights in focus. Image source, Getty Images. Image caption, The Treaty of Waitangi was signed between many, but not all, Māori tribes and the ...