Waitangi Day is held every 6 February to celebrate the signing of the Waitangi Treaty in 1840 at the home of James Busby at Waitangi. The Waitangi Treaty was signed by Māori chiefs and representatives of the British Crown and was three pronged in that it gave the Māori people the same rights as the British; it recognised Māori ownership of their lands and some other properties; and it established a British Governor of New Zealand.