February the 6th is Waitangi Day in New Zealand and we have all had a holiday from school. To recognise Te Tiriti o Waitangi KPE is publishing on this blog a podcast made many episodes ago by Jadyn and Shonty Lee. It is published on iTunes as KPE Episode 76.
"The Tree Hut Treaty" by Wiremu Grace is a book that all schools in New Zealand have in their libraries. Shonty Lee and Jaydn tell us about the story and also give us an overview of the Treaty of Waitangi as they discuss the themes of the book.
The picture book follows the adventures of four young New Zealanders looking for a way to resolve a disagreement over a shared tree hut. They come up with the idea of a treaty and the book follows the process and principles that are agreed upon to create their treaty and resolve their disagreement.
The story is presented twice: once in English and once in Maori, with each of the two covers being the beginning of each version (upside down to each other, meeting in the middle - and at the centre is a page about the Treaty of Waitangi).
It was published as part of the Treaty of Waitangi Information Programme, which was established to increase public knowledge of the Treaty of Waitangi. It gives us a simple introduction to the concept of a treaty.
This is the first podcast these two students had published.
Tell us how YOU spent Waitangi Day in 2008.
This book is based around the themes of the Treaty of Waitangi and explores the ideas of Partnership, Participation and Protection. The story of kids in the same street learning to share a tree hut, and the treaty they sign to protect their rights, is quite similar to what happened in New Zealand way back when the European settlers and Maori leaders did a similar thing.