This section discusses aspects of the recent referendum on a new flag for New Zealand. It then recounts wider aspects of how New Zealanders see themselves, and how they see Māori, using the 1990 Sesquentenary as a particular ‘sounding’ or focus.
It's a great shame that more kiwis wanted the union jack on our flag, instead of the silver fern. In 2015 and 2016, we had the chance to change our flag. It's a great shame that we didn't. Perhaps someone will write a book about the process we went through, because...
Notes from Georgetown Whilst teaching a course on New Zealand history at Georgetown University in Washington DC in 2009, Danny was able to briefly introduce the topic of New Zealand's sesquicentenary 1990 to an amazing group of 35 young American students....
The Chairman of the Waitangi Tribunal, Sir Eddie Durie, spoke of the 1990 celebrations representing a 'new beginning'. He was referring to the Crown’s relationship with Maori, emphasising the importance of the Treaty of Waitangi, a view - or hope - shared by all Maori...
As with the building of waka and the sponsoring of ‘the year of the waka’, acknowledging the Treaty of Waitangi was achieved in many different ways during 1990, emphasising once again its centrality within the Sesquentenary celebrations. In October, the Alexander...
When Winston Peters took office as Minister, the Department of Maori Affairs had just been abolished, on 1 September 1989. Ministries in flux Maori at large had opposed the abolition which removed 1100 people with years of collective experience from their mediating...
Throughout the 1990s, claims continued to be filed with the Waitangi Tribunal at a hectic pace with Māori continuing to place confidence in the Tribunal, especially with Jurist Eddie Durie appointed as Chairman of a much-expanded Tribunal membership. One issue...
In 1990, Māori people did have one major success to recall. In the decade prior to 1990, Māori art and performance had gone global, via the Te Māori exhibition, with stunning success. By 1990, wrote Ngahuia Te Awekotuku, the connections between the Maāri art and...
Maori opinion on such an issue as Māori nationhood was quite divergent. Maori were always conscious of historical issues, politics and the Treaty. Despite the high rhetoric of the 1990 commemoration – ‘a year to remember, to reflect and to look ahead to a new horizon’...
The largest community event of them all in 1990 however was hosted in Auckland, the XIV1990 Commonwealth Games. New Zealand had hosted these Games only twice before. 2826 athletes and officials from 55 participating Commonwealth nations attended, setting a new...
As with the people of Tokorangi Marae in Fielding, communities all over New Zealand responded to the call to preserve their historical memories, especially by renovating and restoring buildings to their former glory. Onga Onga - Hawkes Bay One example was Onga Onga,...
In view of the scale and rapidity of the social change New Zealand had been through since the 1970s, this extensive ‘navel-gazing’ after 1990 was not surprising. Writing about identity Many books were published embracing these themes in 1990. One notable example...
During 2020, New Zealand once again commemorated many past events. One that was largely overlooked was the Sesquicentenary of 1990 which of course was quite an event, at the time at least. In 1990, New Zealanders had been asked to reflect on what it meant to be a New...