Waitangi Day at He Tohu

Thursday 6th February, 9am to 5pm. He Tohu tours will run every half hour from 9:30am. Tours are 20 mins long. Last tour at 4pm. Bilingual tours at 11am and 2pm.

‘Walking backwards into the future’—is an expression that asks us to use our past experiences to build a positive future. Bring the family to the National Library on Waitangi Day and see the Treaty of Waitangi. Learn about New Zealand's constitutional past to help you imagine the future.

‘Walking backwards into the Future’ encourages us to look at where we’ve come from and the journey that still lies ahead. It asks that we use our past experiences to build a positive future.

Celebrate Waitangi Day at He Tohu
Waitangi Day at He Tohu is an opportunity for you and your whānau to see the Treaty of Waitangi.

Activities will include:
- whānau and bilingual He Tohu tours
- tours of National Library digitised collections
- a reading corner with books/ comics and other Treaty resources
- film from Nga Taonga Sound and Vision, and
- a kids’ craft table with Treaty-related activities to help the new generation walk backwards into the future.

See the Treaty of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi is not a single large sheet of paper but a group of nine documents: seven on paper and two on parchment. Together they represent an agreement drawn up between representatives of the British Crown on the one hand and representatives of Māori iwi and hapū on the other.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi is named after the place in the Bay of Islands where it was first signed on 6 February 1840, but it was also signed in a number of other locations around the country in the following months.

See all nine sheets when you visit the He Tohu exhibition. Get a head start and have a look at the Archives New Zealand online exibition about the Treaty of Waitangi.