This paper is supported by Understanding China · Translating China: Comprehensive Translation, Teaching Team Program of Northwest Normal University on Morals and Values Education throughout Curriculum in 2023: (Project No. 202320051343).
Abstract
In late 2024, large-scale demonstrations took place in New Zealand to defend the rights and interests of the indigenous Māori people, which can be traced to the Treaty of Waitangi, signed in 1840 between representatives of the British Crown and Māori chiefs. Because the English and Māori versions of the treaty diverged in their semantic understandings of concepts such as “sovereignty,” “property,” and “pre-emption”, disputes surrounding the treaty and its interpretation have persisted for many years, thus gradually becoming historical issues in New Zealand’s ethnic relations. The core of the disputes lies in the fact that modern constitutional interpretation of concepts such as “contract” and “sovereignty” differed sharply from Māori interpretation. Such divergence also reveals the practical dilemma of treaty constitutionalism.
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How to cite this paper
Historical Issues in New Zealand’s Ethnic Relations Based on the Treaty of Waitangi
How to cite this paper: Jiahao Wei. (2026) Historical Issues in New Zealand’s Ethnic Relations Based on the Treaty of Waitangi. Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science, 10(5), 549-553.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2026.05.007