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In the Treaty of Waitangi of 1840, a group of Maori chiefs ceded New Zealand to the British Crown. The anniversary of the treaty is now a public holiday, held each year on 6 February. Official celebrations are somewhat muted but holiday festivities and parties take place across the country. The Governor General usually attends a dawn service on the Treaty Grounds at Waitangi, in the Bay of Islands, before travelling south to Wellington for a Waitangi Day function at Government House. Although this is New Zealand's national day and widely celebrated by New Zealand communities throughout the world, there has been some controversy in recent times, as the event has become the subject of protest by Maori activists.

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