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National Day Again

Entry 689, on 2008-02-06 at 21:38:50 (Rating 4, News)

Last year I raved on about how New Zealand's national day, Waitangi Day, has become meaningless. I referred back to that blog entry before I wrote this one and realised I was just about to write the same thing over again because, of course, nothing has changed.

There were two "pop culture" phenomena I noticed today which support my thoughts. First, a poll at a prominent New Zealand web site showed that the vast majority of people here don't care about the original reason for the day. Only 3% thought the day should be used to think about the Treaty of Waitangi which is claimed to be the founding document of the country, but over 80% thought it was just an excuse for a holiday in the sun (its summer in the southern hemisphere).

The other thing I found interesting was the way the issue was portrayed by our national soapy, Shortland Street. This program isn't exactly the most sophisticated viewing on TV but it does reflect many current issues relating to the national psyche. Sheesh, every time I say that I've got to stop myself from laughing, but there is some truth in it. Anyway, one of the Maori characters in the program wanted to do something emphasising the real meaning of the day but all the European New Zealanders just wanted a day off, so the program does seem to reflect the reality of life in that case.

So it seems to me that there is something really wrong here. The Treaty is real and we can't ignore it - actually we can and most people do. I think this is because its seen as something which is there only for the minority of the people in our country: that is the minority of Maori who really take their culture and their history seriously. It certainly doesn't feel like there is anything there for anyone else. The original purpose of the Treaty was to establish peace between European settlers and the indigenous Maori population, but recently it just seems to be an excuse to create more political correctness which very few people really believe in.

On the other hand, I have never been a fan of great patriotism as seems to be the style in the US for example. Maybe the lack of a New Zealand identity and focal point makes New Zealanders a little less focussed on meaningless symbols, like the flag and national days. Maybe we identify with things that really matter. Then again, maybe I'm really making all of this up because I'm just assuming other countries aren't just as cynical and apathetic as most of my fellow New Zealanders!

Comment 1 (1129) by SBFL on 2008-02-12 at 00:10:50:

Some good food for thought here. However I always thought the Treaty of Waitangi was more about a land deal than it was about making peace. Maybe I need to read up on it more.

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