The Treaty Of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 in Waitangi, Bay of Islands in the North island of New Zealand. It was signed because the British wanted to control lawlessness. The British thought that the Maori understood what they were trying to say in the Treaty of Waitangi but the translation was incorrect. After the Treaty was signed in the early 1840’s, the settlers established their own government that excluded the Maori. By the early 1860’s, all of the South Island and ⅕ of the North Island was taken off the Maori by the Europeans. The British government didn’t allow Maori people to participate in the House of Representatives Of New Zealand until 1867 when the law was changed. The Maori were now given seats in parliament but they only had four seats which was not fair.
The British Crown and settlers committed group sin against the Maori by dishonouring The Treaty Of Waitangi. One example of this group sin is the failure to preserve enough land for iwi even though the British had promised to include Maori in everything they do.
Christian people can restore tika (truth) and pono (justice) to the Treaty of Waitangi by encourage a community that doesn’t exclude anyone the way that the Maori felt when the pakeha excluded them during the 1850’s. Another example of how to continue to restore justice is through the work of the Waitangi Tribunal to return land to the original owners (iwi).
By Micahzl
