As I write this, we are coming to the sunny end of Waitangi Day 2010. For years, some people (mainly Pakeha) have said that this day should not be our national day. I would say that is and should continue to be so.

February 6th 1840 marked the birth of the modern nation of Aotearoa/New Zealand. Officially we became a Crown colony of Britain on that date. Up until that time, this country was an independent sovereign state, albeit, without a recognised European-style central government. Indeed the British had officially recognised the independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand in the mid-1830s. However, with the New Zealand Company's rapacious desire to acquire land for European settlement and with it the prospect of more immigration to this country, the British decided to make their move. So on this fateful day 170 years ago, Maori did not begin the process of ceding sovereignty over their people, land and resources. Rather, under the terms of Te Tiriti O Waitangi, they were promised the right to tino rangatiratanga (the exercise of self-government) over their own people. In return, they would recognise the right of Britain to exercise legal control over new settlers and afford Maori the right to access British courts and other colonial institutions on equal terms.

This partnership deal was not kept and as we now know, Maori rights to exercise control over their land, people and resources was stripped away over nearly 130 years. Still many Maori kept pressing the Crown to recognise and honour the Treaty and, as part of that committment, make February 6th a national holiday. The Second Labour Government of Walter Nash recognised Waitangi Day in law just before its defeat at the 1960 election but, to the disappointment of many Maori, it was not made a public holiday. All that changed with the election of the Third Labour Government under Norman Kirk whom, alongside the then Maori Affairs Minister Matiu Rata passed the New Zealand Day Act 1973. This was a small first step in recognising the central role of the treaty in Maori eyes.

Strangely enough it was the Third National Government under Rob Muldoon which passed the Waitangi Day Act 1976 giving February 6th the title it now bears in our national calendar. Given the National Party's greater historical ambivalance on Maori issues and the strong support that Labour enjoyed amongst Maori at the time, this historical fact came back to haunt the assimilationists within the Nats in later years.

Over the years, the day has been viewed by Pakeha as one of division and protest. In my view, what activist Maori groups were in fact doing on February 6th was raising both the consciousness of not only Pakeha but other Maori about the injustices inflicted on the tangata whenua. Understandably this made the vasxt majority of Pakeha uncomfortable. Nonetheless, the early protestors who called for greater recognition of the Maori language, systemic rectification and compensation for past injustices and recognition for tino rangatiratanga rights have had many of their demands met. However, the problems of getting the Crown to recognise tino rangatiratanga and to enabling Maori to claim their full treaty rights (as it prevented them from doing under the Foreshore and Seabed Act) still remain.

Over the last few years (especially with the advent of the Maori Party) the day has become quieter, at least from a Pakeha standpoint. Maori, while still awaiting the conclusion of the treaty settlement process, are prepared (for now) to take the direct political route to settle grievances. Resultingly, the day has become one more of celebration  than protest which recognises both the bi and multicultural nature of our modern society. At the same time (particularly now with the long overdue decision of government to have the tino rangatiratanga flag fly), the day recognises the role that Maori have played in this country's history from that of being our first settlers to becoming an important marker in identifying us as a modern Pacific nation. After all, what would the All Blacks be without the haka, Air New Zealand without its koru symbol or Whakarewarewa without its iconic Maori village? We would all be the poorer as well if we didn't have words like puku, mana, or kapai to enliven our conversation or the beauty of names like Whakatane, Oamaru or Kaitaia to pronounce alongside European place names.

Our Pacific derived heritage should be recognised equally alongside our European derived heritage. February 6th is the right day to be our national day to do just that. Otherwise, we would be cheating ourselves out of a day that genuinely celebrates our growing diversity and national identity.