Today we mark 183 years since the first signatures were put to the Treaty of Waitangi on Thursday 6 February 1840. Here in Aotearoa we mark this day with a public holiday.

The history of Aotearoa-New Zealand as taught in the schools of our country did not feature the Treaty and its implications until the mid-twentieth century. Until this point, history was presented from the view-point of the confiscating colonials. This view generally considered that the European had been generous to the Maori in the terms of the Treaty.

It is also now accepted that Maori and European had significantly different understandings of what they were accepting and agreeing to in this document.