‘Like a forest without birdsong’: Waitangi Day becomes more reflective as Covid takes toll

As gatherings and speeches are moved online, the chairman of the Waitangi National Trust Board sees a chance for further thought and change

On the 182nd anniversary of the signing of Aotearoa New Zealand's founding document, the Waitangi Treaty grounds - usually thronging with tens of thousands of people - were quiet and cloaked in a gloss of rain, a sign, or tohu, to some that it is a Waitangi Day like no other.

National events were cancelled this year, and ceremonies, speeches and reflections moved online, as the country teeters on the edge of a widespread Omicron outbreak.