新西兰英语 244 Waitangi Day

　　Today is Waitangi Day. It is 170 years since the signing of the Treaty¹ of Waitangi. This was a treaty between Queen Victoria of England and Maori chiefs in New Zealand. The Queen promised to give Maori all the rights of British citizens and to protect the people. Maori could sell their land but only to the government. They had rights to collect their food from traditional places like the sea, rivers, lakes and forests. They had rights to their taonga which is a Maori word for treasures but it was never clear to the white people who signed the Treaty, exactly what this word meant. It was a problem in translation.
For many years now, Waitangi Day has been a day of protest², a day when people – white and Maori – said it was time to “Honour the Treaty”. Maori lost most of their land. Some of it was taken by the government after the land wars in the nineteenth century.
In recent years, Maori iwi (tribes) have been given land and money as part of Treaty settlements to compensate³ the iwi for losing their land. Many iwi are still waiting for their Treaty settlement. The Prime⁴ Minister, John Key, said today that he hoped Treaty settlements would all be finished by 2014. For more about Treaty Settlements listen to February 11th 2009.
Last year, John Key was pushed by some protesters at Waitangi but today, it was a peaceful and happy occasion⁵. The weather was warm and a crowd of about 30,000 attended at Waitangi in the far north of the North Island. The day started with a religious service at dawn. Then it was time to put the big 37m waka (canoe) into the sea. About 50 men each had a paddle. There were more than 20 smaller waka also beside the big waka in the sea.
Then there were speeches and music to entertain the large crowd. Waitangi celebrations were also held in other parts of the country.
Listen to Waitangi Day 2009 to see what happened last year.

1 treaty   

n.条约；协议，协定

参考例句：

• Hungary has indicated its readiness to sign the treaty.匈牙利已表示愿意签订该条约。
• I believe this treaty will pave the way to peace in Europe. 我相信这个条约将为欧洲的和平铺平道路。

2 protest   

v.反对，抗议；宣称；n.抗议；宣称

参考例句：

• I can't pass the matter by without a protest.我不能对此事视而不见，我要提出抗议。
• We translated his silence as a protest.我们把他的沉默解释为抗议。

3 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

4 prime   

adj.首要的，主要的；最好的，第一流的

参考例句：

• The prime minister spoke of the general insecurity in the country.总理谈到了全国普遍存在的不安全。
• He met with the Prime Minister of Japan for an hour.他和日本首相会见了一个小时。

5 occasion   

n.场合，时机，机会，诱因，理由；vt.惹起，引起

参考例句：

• Her dress was too showy for such a formal occasion.在如此正式的场合，她的服装过分华丽了。
• Her tears were fought back on such an occasion.在这种场合下她忍住了眼泪。