Waitangi National Trust Endowment Fund – Creating a sustainable future for Waitangi

Posted on: 10/03/21

The Waitangi National Trust and Northland Community Foundation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create the Waitangi National Trust Endowment Fund. This Fund will help create a sustainable future for Waitangi, donations received will be invested and the annual interest delivered out to support the conservation, maintenance and preservation of heritage buildings at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Funds can also support the provision of education programmes for New Zealanders, especially children, and conservation of native wildlife on the Waitangi estate.

The Waitangi National Trust’s primary responsibility is to manage the ‘Birthplace of our Nation’ , providing all New Zealanders with a place to feel at home. The Treaty Grounds was the site of the first signing of the Declaration of Independence, He Whakaputanga, in 1835, and the Treaty of Waitangi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, in 1840. The Treaty Grounds is part of an estate of 506 hectares on the coast at Paihia, and include the restored Treaty House – home of the first British Resident, James Busby, who assisted with the drafting of the original Treaty document; Te Rau Aroha - Museum of the Price of Citizenship, which commemorates the service and sacrifice of Māori in the NZ Armed Forces; Te Kōngahu - Museum of Waitangi, which tells of the relationship between Māori and the Crown from first contact until the present day; Te Whare Rūnanga (the House of Assembly – a carved meeting house designed in Maori traditional form); Te Korowai ō Maikuku (waka house) which houses the great war canoe Ngātokimatawhaorua; and the Waitangi Flagstaff which marks the spot where the Treaty was first signed on 6 February 1840.