Ardern told AAP that "Waitangi Day for me is about commemoration and reflection".

"It is on this day that New Zealanders consider and debate both where we are, and where we are going as a nation. I am grateful that our national day gives us the opportunity to pause, reflect and look forward together, and to do that honestly," she said.

"Waitangi day isn't about perfection, it's a chance to challenge ourselves to keep working together to build an even better New Zealand.

"Mo tatou, a, mo ka uri a muri ake nei - For us and our children after us."

The similarities between Australians and New Zealanders certainly show in the way Aussies and Kiwis spend their national days.

For most, Australia Day and Waitangi Day - celebrated on Thursday - are not occasions that inspire chest-beating cries of nationhood.

They are days for small gatherings, for families, friends, communities.

Equally they are days of protest.

In Australia, an ever-growing group led by indigenous people spearhead a movement to change the date of national celebration.

In New Zealand, groups spend the occasion arguing for Maori causes - a natural fit given Waitangi Day commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, the covenant made between European settlers and Maori 180 years ago.

In other ways, the Anzac partners celebrate their days differently.

Waitangi Day is naturally imbibed with Maori culture, given the anniversary of 'Te Tiriti' is about the enduring - however flawed - partnership between two groups.

Maori language, song and ritual is front and centre of celebrations on February 6.

Aboriginal culture feels increasingly separate from official January 26 platforms, when attention is spent elsewhere; providing deserved recognition to volunteers, to crown an Australian of the Year, to citizenship ceremonies.

But not on indigenous issues.

Momentum towards the Uluru Statement from the Heart - the pathway towards recognising indigenous Australians in the constitution - has stalled.

The well-meaning but derided 'Recognise' campaign is without legitimacy across the indigenous community and Prime Minister Scott Morrison has admitted ongoing failures to meet 'Closing the Gap' targets are "unforgivable".

Government policies in New Zealand also fail Maori.

A damning inquiry this week shows that Oranga Tamariki - the Ministry for Children - had taken Maori children into state care in scandalous fashion.

The report suggested "unprecedented breaches of human rights" and "inhumane" treatment of Maori women that amounted to a betrayal of the Treaty of Waitangi.

A number of protest marches - or hikoi - were held to sharpen the government's mind towards a land dispute at Ihumatao near Auckland, where private developers are keen to build on Maori-claimed land.

But unlike her predecessors in New Zealand and her counterparts in Australia, Ardern is actively engaged in the debates.

She arrived at Waitangi on the weekend, staying through to Thursday with a string of government ministers and MPs.

Ardern's entire schedule, from a formal meeting with tribe elders, to a paddle on a 'waka' or traditional canoe, was unapologetically infused with Maoridom.

Publicly and privately, she gave Maori the opportunity to speak to their ambitions and their frustrations - and they let rip on the issues that matter.

Over the week, the government was hectored on its various shortcomings, from claims over water rights and the pollution of freshwater, to family health funding.

Disproportionate numbers of Maori are in jail, are affected by housing shortfalls and poverty spikes.

And yet Ardern and her government won praise from Maori leaders.

The sentiment seems to stem from the government's eagerness to meet Maori half-way.

Part of that is showing up; for the third straight year Ardern has spent several days in the region and she's pledged to keep coming back.

Addressing the annual political 'powhiri' on Tuesday, Ardern said she would keep returning to Waitangi to be held to account - not just for what the government did but how the government did it.

There was no greater example of engagement on Maori terms than Treaty Negotiations minister Andrew Little, a non-native Maori speaker, who delivered an eight-minute speech in 'te reo'.

"The way we do things matters," Ardern said.

"That is why you heard Andrew Little today ... an example of the effort that we wish to keep making to cross over into the Maori world as so often we have asked you to cross into the Pakeha world.

"Our Maori MPs, our Maori Ministers, they cross that bridge every day. But so must all of us."

The government's commitment to "crossing the bridge" has involved adding more Maori language and history to the curriculum.

Ardern has also personally championed a new national commemoration in October to acknowledge the New Zealand Land Wars.

Kelvin Davis, Ardern's Labour deputy and the most senior Maori in the party's ranks, said that was tied to representation.

There are more Maori members of cabinet and in the Labour caucus than ever before.

"We're making sure we can celebrate Maoridom," Davis told AAP.

"We've been doing a lot to promote and profile our Maori history because a lot of people grew up with one version of it.

"It's really important that our Maori perspective is front and centre as well."

Australian Associated Press