Waitangi Day

The Treaty of Waitangi was signed on 6 February 1840. It made New Zealand part of the British Empire and guaranteed Maori rights to their land.
The town of Waitangi (weeping waters in Maori) is located in the Bay of Islands on the North Island.
The early Polinesian settlers in New Zealand called the country AOTEAROA, which means LAND OF THE LONG WHITE CLOUD.
The Maoris are the native people of New Zealand. Today they make up over 14% of the population. They were living in New Zealand for a long time before the white settlers arrived from Europe.
In 1642 ABEL TASMAN, a Dutch explorer, was the first European to discover New Zealand. The country was named after the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands.

The New Zealanders are known by the nickname kiwi throughout the world. A Kiwi is a flightless bird endemic to New Zealand. It is also the name of a fruit of Chinese origin but grown in New Zealand on a large scale.

 

 

Rugby is the national sport of New Zealand. The national team performs the Haka, a traditional Maori war dance just before the game starts.

Edmund Hillary (1919-2008)

A great explorer

and

much loved New Zealand hero, who with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay was the first to reach the summit of Mt. Everest, in 1953. Edmund Hillary was born in Auckland, New Zealand.

His face is on the five dollar note.

References:

Pelteret, Cheryl. Customs & Lifestyle in the English-Speaking World. Scholastic. London, 2007.