This Waitangi Day, Dame Cindy and Dr Davies were warmly welcomed by Ngāi Tahu to Ōnuku Marae on the beautiful Banks Peninsula – the historic site where Ngāi Tahu rangatira, Iwihau and Hone Tīkao, signed the seventh sheet of Te Tiriti o Waitangi on 30th May 1840.
In her annual Waitangi Day Address, Dame Cindy acknowledged the tupuna of Ngāi Tahu, the profound impact of Tā Tipene O’Regan’s leadership, and the importance of our rangatira for the future of Aotearoa New Zealand: ‘I urge us to do all we can to empower them – to be examples in the way we conduct ourselves; to hold onto our own youthful sense of hope and purpose; and to be there for each other, in the spirit of understanding, goodness, and grace with which our Treaty was signed, here, 185 years ago.’
You can read Dame Cindy's full address via Her Excellency's Waitangi Day Address at Ōnuku Marae, and more images via the Waitangi Day at Ōnuku Marae image gallery.