Waitangi Day celebrated in Christchurch

An annual event for the past 43 years, the Waitangi Day commemorations in Christchurch were organised by the Okains Bay Maori and Colonial Museum on the Banks Peninsula, starting at 9.30am with the paddling of waka on the Opara River, followed by a powhiri at 10.30am, and then a hangi lunch.

Throughout the day there were demonstrations of traditional skills such as bread making, blacksmithing and weaving, as well as activities for the children including races and construction of sand castles, with over 200 people attending.

This included a group of naval officers, and naval cadets and Christchurch Labour MPs Duncan Webb and Poto Williams. Interestingly, the Okains Bay Maori and Colonial Museum are known for its display of Taiaha (wooden spear-like weapons).

The Waitangi Day commemorations at Okains Bay are the largest and longest standing in the South Island in 2019 being the 44th consecutive commemoration.

Another event held to mark Waitangi Day was the I Love New Brighton family fun day at Thomson Park. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., this free family event celebrated New Brighton and featured live music, food stalls and lots of free activities for the kids including bouncy castles.

Citizenship ceremony

The final event of the day was the special Waitangi Day citizenship ceremony at Wairewa Marae in Little River, near Christchurch, where 47 people from 19 different countries swore allegiance to New Zealand. Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel conducted the first citizenship ceremony of the year, which was the first ever held at the Wairewa Marae.

Christchurch Mayor at one of the earlier citizenship ceremonies

The 47 people receiving their citizenship at the ceremony have come from Greece, Ethiopia, Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Tonga, Ukraine, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Great Britain, Australia, France, Slovakia, China, Fiji and Malaysia.

“Citizenship ceremonies are always special occasions. I always hold the first citizenship ceremony of the year on a marae on our national day, making this ceremony a particularly special one. Last year it was a Tuahiwi, the year before at Onuku, and this year I'm grateful to the Wairewa runanga for hosting us at their marae,'' the Mayor said.

Notably, the Christchurch City Council holds between 12 and 15 citizenship ceremonies each year. Last year about 2300 people from 40 different countries became New Zealand citizens at one of those ceremonies.