KEY POINTS:
The biggest crowd in years attended a dawn ceremony at Te Tii Waitangi Marae in Waitangi this morning.
About 1000 people fielded on to the national Marae, with the overspill sitting and standing outside. However, before the service got underway, there was a warning from Ngapuhi leader Sonny Tau to potential protesters.
Te Tii Marae was the place for making a scene, he said. He deadpanned his warning, "There's no room in amongst this for politics. The Marae down the bottom is always open to those who wish to [protest] and we are looking for representatives for Ngapuhi all the time."
In the end the most radical message came from within the mixed set of religious leaders and ministers who led the service.
In an odd statement one of the last Anglican ministers to speak said, "The Treaty of Waitangi has never been signed at Waitangi and I defy graciously the house of parliament to prove me wrong."
After the service Mr Tau clarified what he thought the minister was saying. He said it wasn't the English version of the Treaty that was signed at Waitangi, rather the Maori version.
From the minister's words though, that nuance wasn't exactly clear.
The hour long service concluded at around 6am, after Prime Minister John Key led a prayer.
It was the first time in a decade a National Prime Minister had been at the service. Labour Prime Minister Helen Clark consistently refused to attend, saying she was "not a morning person."
Security was tight for Mr Key and for the Maori King Tuheitia in the first visit to the Treaty of Waitangi commemorations by a Maori king for many years.
"As we gather here this morning on this most historic of sites at dawn, we can give thanks, "Mr Key said as he led the prayer.
"We give thanks to the fact that out country is still one of the most amazing places in the world to live, where our oceans are teeming with fish, where our land is arable and can deliver for our people, where we see opportunities for all New Zealanders and where we can live in peace.
"We also give thanks for those who came and signed the treaty 169 years ago, those iwi leaders who showed two of the most important human characteristics - hope and courage.
"The hope that they could deliver on the promise of New Zealand, the belief that New Zealand could go forward - two people, shared beliefs, shared values - and the courage to take a step that they couldn't be sure would be right but that they hoped would deliver on the promise of our land."
After the service Mr Key told the media his attendance at the service was very important.
"It is the birth place of the nation. It's a special place for New Zealand and this is just another step in the progression towards racial harmony in New Zealand.
Mr Key was due to inspect the Waka House on Hobson Beach before a walkabout at the festival.
He was then to fly to Auckland for further Treaty commemorations at Manukau City.
The service was attended by a wide range of New Zealanders, Pacific Islanders, Pakeha, Chinese, Indian and Maori. Wellington couple Steve and Sue Pattison said they'd enjoyed the ceremony. "It was a very peaceful and hopeful ceremony; there was a lot of good humour too. I think every one of us here will take that way." Mr Pattison said.
- WITH NZPA
