Waitangi Day is a public holiday in
New Zealand held each year on
February 6th to celebrate the signing of the
Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand's founding document on that date in
1840. The first
Waitangi Day was not celebrated until
1934 and the day was not made a public holiday until 1974. Although this is New Zealand's national day, the commemoration has often been the focus of protest by
Maori activists, and is often marred by controversy. For a time it was renamed "New Zealand Day" and the official celebrations were shifted from
Waitangi[?] to
Wellington. However today the anniversary is officially commemorated at the treaty house at Waitangi where the treaty was first signed.
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