Kiwiana

flat =Discovery of New Zealand:=

New Zealand was discovered in 1642 by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman. However, it was not until the arrival of Capain James Cook in 1769 that any contact with Maori took place. Englishman Cook led a voyage of scientific discovery to New Zealand. The ship he arrived here on was called the Endeavour. James Cook sailed all the way around New Zealand and made a map of what he saw. After Cook there was several other explorers that visited New Zealand including several from France.

=Treaty of Waitangi:=

New Zealand's founding document is the Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty of Waitangi was signed between the British and Maori on February 6th, 1840. William Hobson was sent to New Zealand with the express purpose of getting a treaty signed with Maori. When he arrived the treaty needed to be translated into Maori. This was done by Henry Williams. he encountered some problems translating the treaty because some of the words could not be translated directly into Maori. This is why there is still a lot of debate about the treaty.

A meeting was hed between the British and the Maori to discuss the treaty on February 5th. Maori went away that night to talk through what they wanted to do. They returned to James Busby's residence the next day to continue the discussion. By this stage people were getting frustrated. William Hobson wanted to get on with signing the treaty. Hone Heke was the first Maori chief to sign the treaty. Several chiefs signed on the day. After this several different versions of the treaty travelled around New Zealand to get signed by Maori chiefs. Also after the signing of the treaty William Hobson became the first governor of New Zealand. =National Anthem:=

Until 1977 New Zealand had one official national anthem - God Save the Queen. When there was a King it was God Save the King. It was played in places such as movie theatres before the movie started. Everybody was expected to stand up for it. In 1977 the Queen gave permission for God Defend New Zealand to be New Zealand's second official anthem. God Defend New Zealand was written by Thomas Bracken and first sung on Christmas Day in 1876. Although it has five verses usually only the first verse is sung in both Maori and English.

=New Zealand Flag:=

New Zealand has had three official flags. The first flag was the United tribes of New Zealand flag that signed the 1835 Declaration of Independence. This was followed by the Union Jack. The current flag was adopted as the official flag in 1902. It had previously been used to identify ships but never on land.

=New Zealand Bank Notes:=

In 1990 the Reserve Bank issued the first New Zealand bank notes that had famous New Zealanders on them. The people of New Zealand wanted a more Kiwi theme for their money. Sir Edmund Hiliary, the first man to climb Mt Everest was selected to appear on the $5. On the $10 was women's suffrage campaigner Kate Sheppard. In 1893 New Zealand became the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote. Lawyer and Maori Member of Parliament Sir Apiranga Ngata was chosen to be on the $50 note. Scientist Ernest Rutherford is on the $100 note.

Click here for Kiwiana Revision Activities