> My Dilbert desktop calendar says that today is
> "Waitangi Day" in New Zealand.
>
> I was wondering if Brunnen-G might be able to
> explain this to me...
>
> Gri"hope it's something COOL"shny

d00d! I wondered the same thing in my LJ.

I looked it up. It has something to do with a treaty that the Maori chiefs signed with the British government way back in 1840, and seems to retain some element of controversiality (Don King, eat your heart out!).

Upon more research, its intent was evidently to curtail British exploitation of the land, and to provide some sort of law for the "unruly", as there wasn't any such thing that British colonists were living under. And from everywhere I can gather, Britain did next to nothing to abide by the original intent of the treaty, instead using it just grab more land. It also appears to have placed restrictions on how the New Zealand Company could treat locals, and common thought appears to be that this treaty helped prevent an Australia-like situation, with major abuse of the Aboriginies.

The main reason it is celebrated seems to be because the treaty introduced the colonial form of government to New Zealand.

The Other "But, of course, I'm no expert on New Zealand" Matthew