Waitangi Day, New Zealand’s official national day, is often claimed as contentious by commentators and academics. However, research analysing the wider population’s opinions about Waitangi Day are lacking. We address this with two studies using national probability data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study. Most participants supported (51%), rather than opposed (8%), Waitangi Day as a national celebration of biculturalism. Study one indicated that, on average, Pākehā (N = 12390) who opposed Waitangi Day as a bicultural celebration expressed warmer attitudes towards Pākehā but colder attitudes towards Māori. Conversely, support for Waitangi Day as a bicultural celebration among Māori (N = 1928) was, on average, related to warmth towards Māori but uncorrelated with warmth towards Pākehā. Study two assessed whether socio-political attitudes changed in the weeks leading up to, during, and immediately following Waitangi Day in 2015. Contrary to narratives of divisiveness, we failed to detect reliable change in the attitudes of Māori (N = 556) and Pākehā (N = 3203) around Waitangi Day. These findings are inconsistent with anecdotal claims that Waitangi Day may be divisive.

新西兰的官方国庆日怀唐伊纪念日通常被评论员和学者们称为有争议的话题。但是，缺乏分析更广泛的人群对怀唐伊日的看法的研究。我们通过两项使用来自新西兰态度与价值观研究的国家概率数据的研究来解决这个问题。多数参与者支持（51％）而不是反对（8％）的怀唐伊日作为全国性的双重文化主义庆祝活动。研究表明，平均而言，反对怀唐伊日作为双文化庆祝活动的帕克哈（N = 12390）表达了对帕克哈的热情态度，但对毛利人的态度较冷。相反，平均而言，支持毛伊族人参加双重文化庆祝活动-怀唐伊节（N = 1928）与对毛利人的温暖有关，而与对帕克哈的温暖无关。研究二评估了在2015年怀唐伊日之前，期间和之后的几周内，社会政治态度是否发生了变化。与分歧的叙述相反，我们未能发现毛利人（N = 556）和帕凯哈态度的可靠变化（N = 3203）在怀唐伊纪念日前后。这些发现与Waitangi Day可能分裂的传闻不一致。