Waitangi Day

Press, 12 February 1986, Page 20

Waitangi Day

Sir, — All credit to those who organised the “new-look” Waitangi Day. The Chinese dancing was beautiful. I had never seen it before and the Chinese are among New Zealand’s earliest settlers and watching the few dances we saw brought to mind the other settlers: Dalmatians French, English, Italian, Dutch, Hungarian and Vietnamese to mention but a few. It was an occasion when we could really appreicate just how multi-racial we are. For me, a truly symbolic ending would have been Kiri singing "Land of Hope and Glory.” Perhaps next time? — Yours, etc., H. TURNER. February 10, 1986. Sir,—The claim made by your correspondent, L. Westney (February 8) that “the advantages to the Maoris (sic) through the Waitangi treaty far outweigh the disadvantages” suggests an ignorance of the text of that treaty. What in fact the treaty guarantees to the Maori people is "... full exclusive and undisturbed possession of their lands and estates, forests, fisheries and other properties ...” Not subjection to a foreign culture which is convinced of its own superiority. Not the imposition of an education system designed on a values system so different from their own as to label a large proportion of Maori students “failures” while alienating them from their own culture. Not an economic system which confers “unemployment” on large numbers of Maori people. Not a judicial system whose pakeha concepts brand a disproportionate number of Maori people “criminal.” Not the almost total loss of their lands to the voracious appetite of capitalism’s search for profit. — Yours, etc., JANE SEVERN. February 8, 1986.