Maori:
Tiriti o Waitangi has caused oh so many problems and meetings. Thankfully, the gods have allowed us all to agree to sign the treaty. All the chiefs go into a Tape Nakara and wait for hours until they are called upon to sign it.
I could feel the prickly grass brush against my feet as I walked towards the British missionary. I glanced down at the treaty, preparing myself to sign it. There was another paper next to it with words I didn’t understand on it.
I could feel the adrenaline kick in, I picked up the feather and I wrote. The atmosphere was dead silent, all the sweat alone produced by me, would be able to water the roses planted in a garden.
I placed the feather on the table. My signature was officially permanent on the Tiriti o Waitangi. I turned around and walked back to where my tribe had been standing in suffocation. I saw as they tried to find a scent of fresh air.
The temperature in this Tape Nakara was AUE too hot and the scents of nature filled the air. I’m surrounded by odors that stench and reek so strongly, I am not able to have a straight face. The smell only gets worse as the minute passes by and
The wait felt like forever. I walked out of the Tape Nakara with pride and have never felt much jubilant in my whole life.
British:
The Treaty of Waitangi had commenced. As missionaries, we had fulfilled our quest to our Queen. Just another few weeks in this uncooperative weather, and we’ll be gone. Hoo ray!
I sat there waiting for the Maori Chiefs to sign the treaty. My bottom was so numb, you could cook it out of boiled water.
Everybody waited as the maori chiefs signed the treaty. My bottom hurt from sitting there for hours until it went numb and couldn’t feel a limb on my body. I watched as the maori chiefs sat there on the ground with sore ankles and aching feet from folding their legs all day. Then I thought, this day was going to be long...
As time elapsed, the elevated facial expressions changed into a nauseous expression due to the horrendous stench of body odour enforcing myself and others to confine the air left to exhale.
Temperatures had ascended expeditiously. Perspiration started to become noticeable on all the witnesses including myself compressed in the white, quill tent. I positioned myself near the entrance of the tent for the cold, outside breeze to decrease the amount of perspiration that was producing from my underarms, scalp and forehead.
Everyone was relieved when the treaty of waitangi came to a conclusion.
This is a recount that was created collaboratively by a group of writers in RM 5. It tells the story of two perspectives: A Maori signing the treaty of waitangi and a British person signing it. Hopefully you are able to feel like you have experienced this.
