New Zealanders are commemorating Waitangi Day, their national day, up and down the country, 183 years after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.
In 1840, representatives of the British Crown and Maori tribes gathered in the Bay of Islands settlement of Waitangi, in the far North, to sign the nation-founding pact.
On Monday morning, dignitaries including Prime Minister Chris Hipkins did so again, attending a dawn service at the treaty grounds where it was signed.
"183 years ago, people gathered here to do something very bold. So today we reflect on what we have achieved together and what more we must do," he said.
"Help us to increase out trust in one another. Light our path forward to avoid uncertainty and anxiety.
"Help us commit to building greater knowledge of one another and bring us unity and common purpose."
Waitangi Day is a public holiday in New Zealand, with many communities staging events and fairs, but most Kiwis simply enjoying the long weekend.
In Waitangi itself, the multi-faith service included Maori spirituality, hymns, waiata (Maori song), and a bagpiper under the flagpole as the sun attempted to rise on a cloudy, wet morning.
Mr Hipkins called the service - his first as prime minister - "very moving".
"There's been a trend in the last five years or so for a bit less politics on Waitangi Day and a bit more reflection, a bit more commemoration and a little bit more celebration," he said.
"I really welcome that."
The political conversation in the lead up to Waitangi Day each year has increasingly centred on whether the three articles of the treaty have been honoured.
In shorthand, these are understood as partnership, participation and protection between Maori and the Crown or government.
Speaking after the service, Mr Hipkins said he wanted Waitangi Day itself to be a refuge from politics, but pointed to his government's record of improving local history taught in schools.
"I made a comment (last month) that I learned more about Tudor England at school than I did about New Zealand history," he said.
"I got an email from my history teacher and he was somewhat defensive about that saying 'that is what the curriculum was'.
"It was not a criticism of him ... it was an acknowledgement that institutionally we have not celebrated our own history enough. And we should."
