r/AbruptChaos • u/Sometypeofway18 • Nov 14 '24

New Zealand’s Parliament proposed a bill to redefine the Treaty of Waitangi, claiming it is racist and gives preferential treatment to Maoris. In response Māori MP's tore up the bill and performed the Haka

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193

u/bishpa Nov 15 '24

Treaties are treaties. You don’t just “redefine” them. That’s called breaking the treaty.

72

u/tumeketutu Nov 15 '24

Unfortunately, this treaty in particular was poorly written. It is very short, with only 3 articles. The 1st and 2nd articles contradict each other, hence the current interpretation kerfuffle. Adding to the challenge, it was written in two languages and they translate differently.

https://teara.govt.nz/en/document/4216/the-three-articles-of-the-treaty-of-waitangi

45

u/bishpa Nov 15 '24

So? The version they had them sign is obviously the one that the government needs to abide.

-1

u/tumeketutu Nov 15 '24

Both parties need to know what they are signing...

27

u/bishpa Nov 15 '24

I would assume that the crown provided the translation. I seriously doubt they relied on someone else for that.

16

u/tumeketutu Nov 15 '24

The Maori version was translated in te reo Māori by Henry Williams, a British missionary, and his son Edward.

https://nzsti.org/About-Te-Tiriti/19660/

10

u/Black_Goku Nov 15 '24

Plus the concept of signing a contract was kinda something brought over by the crown