F E AT U R E
Hide national p r i d e? P H OTO G R A P H BY C H E V RO N H A S S E T T
With Waitangi Day approaching, LAURA PITCHER looks into our national pride, or lack-thereof, on a day that many New Zealanders feel gives little reason for celebration.
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ovements querying the celebration of national days are gaining steam across the world. You only need to look across the ditch at anti-Australia day or ‘invasion day’ movements or to the US at ‘un-Thanksgiving’ events to see unquestioning national pride being challenged. There’s a frequent call for the re-evaluation of history, which some would call the dangerous re-writing of it. This categorises certain elements of history as ‘bad’ and others as ‘good’. The issue then becomes how do we commemorate and celebrate these divided occasions? New Zealand has never had a high degree of patriotic emotion associated with our national day, Waitangi Day. John Key noted New Zealand’s ‘unpatriotic-ness’ when first campaigning in 2008, calling for similar celebrations to Australia Day. While Anzac Day is gaining momentum, with growing attendances at the dawn services, Waitangi Day remains a complicated commemoration. A 2007 Research New Zealand poll showed that more than half of the population consider Waitangi day insignificant to them. A quarter of Māori respondents to the survey agreed. A 2013 poll by UMR Research also showed a clear majority of New Zealanders feel that Anzac Day means more to them than Waitangi Day. For New Zealanders overseas, however, Waitangi Day has become a focus of patriotism, says freelance production coordinator Lewis Whaitiri from Gisborne. Living in London for over two years, and attending two of the notorious Waitangi
Day pub crawls, he says he noticed a shift in attitude to Waitangi Day. ‘You become more patriotic when you live overseas’ says Whaitiri. ‘You just want to surround yourself with other Kiwis on the day, whether they are pakeha or Māori’. The pub crawls have taken place for over 35 years, attracting up to 15,000 people. Whaitiri has now returned to Gisborne, where he’s noticed far less interest in Waitangi Day. ‘I’m not sure why it’s not celebrated like it is in the UK.’ The commemorations at Waitangi itself have attracted protest action and political controversy. Clearly there is ambivalence about the relationship between the peoples of New Zealand inscribed in the Treaty. Perhaps this underlies a reluctance to invest in its anniversary as our national day? Whaitiri seems to think sensational reporting of protest action colours Kiwis’ view of the official commemorations. He says that being away from the media coverage of Waitangi Day allows those in England to forget the negative aspects of the day. ‘As a Māori man, I respect that it is a right for Māori, and all people, to protest. I am always aware of the issues that come with Waitangi Day but being away from the media’s portrayal of the events did allow me to just enjoy being around fellow Kiwis’. There have been calls for a more explicitly patriotic approach to the day in New Zealand. Indeed its name was changed in an effort to broaden its focus: from 1973 to 1975 it was called ‘New Zealand day’. Among others, political commentator David Farrar has also long advocated a separate ‘New Zealand Day’ as a focus for national pride.
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