Members of New Zealand’s parliament have rallied the international community in support of the island country’s indigenous groups, as contentious legislation moves forward that could threaten Maori support systems.
In a now viral video taken during the legislative session, Te Pati Maori member Hana-Rawhiti Kareariki Maipi-Clarke — the country’s youngest member of parliament — rises amid commencement of the first vote and begins a ringing haka, soon joined by other members of the Maori Party and parliament. The haka, a type of striking group performance embodying New Zealand’s rich indigenous culture, is often interpreted as a cry of challenge.
And a challenge there certainly was. The group of representatives were rallying against a proposed bill contentiously reinterpreting the Treaty of Waitangi, a 184-year-old agreement between the British and Indigenous Maori that established rules of government for the colonizing government and indigenous leaders. The new bill would narrow the treaty’s definitions and powers, which have, until this moment, offered interpretive pathways for the expansion of Maori rights and stands as a beacon of race relations in the country. The bill is credited with facilitating the creation of a Maori health authority and initiatives to preserve the indigenous language.
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