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Treaty of Waitangi (programme 2 of 2). Wiremu Parker presents a programme looking at protests at the 1971 Waitangi Day ceremonies.
Pageantry, spectacle, and historical significance are some of the words normally associated with the commemoration of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi each year. The only difference this year [1971] was a protest demonstration, instigated by the Auckland-based Ngā Tamatoa group, protesting the non-ratification of the Treaty.
- Kaikōrero: Wiremu Parker gives a brief account of the history and significance of the Treaty.
- Archival recording of Lord Bledisloe, former Governor-General (1930-1935), speaking about the importance of the Treaty.
- Forty years later, prominent Māori scholar Pei Te Hurinui Jones was able to make a strong statement calling for the Treaty of Waitangi to be embodied in the statutes of this country.
- Kaikōrero: Pei Te Hurinui Jones, President of the New Zealand Māori Council, speaking in te reo Māori and English at Waitangi [in 1971]. He repeats Sir Turi Carroll's call in a speech to Queen Elizabeth at Waitangi eight years ago [1963], asking for recognition of the Treaty in legislation. He refers to several earlier kaumātua who also called for the Treaty to be recognised, including Sir Hepi Te Heuheu.
Members of Ngā Tamatoa gathered at Te Rapunga marae near Kawakawa ahead of Waitangi Day, to discuss their concerns. They gained the support of local elders such as Walter Kawiti and Pahera Rameka.
- Kaikōrero: Actuality of several unidentified members of Ngā Tamatoa speaking at Te Rapunga marae.
[The first speaker is from Taranaki; the second speaker is Syd Jackson; the third speaker is from Te Waipounamu Action Committee in Christchurch - refers to his ties to Arawa and Taranaki, and calls for recognition of Māori history and culture in education.]
The poet James K. Baxter was also at the meeting.
- Kaikōrero: James K. Baxter talks about the Treaty and suggests Waitangi Day could be a day of mourning - Māori could stop work on that day, and maybe students and some Pākēha would join them. He says the spirit of the Treaty has not been fulfilled and land has been taken away. There is a large amount of Crown land which could be handed back, and the government could compensate Pākēha farmers for land handed back to Māori. He also comments about the need for Māori to be taught in schools, and the high rate of Māori imprisonment.
- Kaikōrero: Unidentified Ngāpuhi kaumātua - a member of Te Kotahitanga movement who have been fighting for 50 years to have the Treaty ratified [speaking in te reo Māori].