Flags, banners, songs—the gathering in Wellington, New Zealand, looked like a festival. It was actually a protest. Tens of thousands of people crowded the streets of the capital. They opposed a bill that would reshape the county’s founding treaty between Indigenous Māori and the British Crown.
Police estimate that 42,000 people tried to crowd into Parliament’s grounds for the protest. For many, it was also a celebration of a resurging Indigenous language and identity that early occupation by Great Britain almost destroyed.
A sea of Māori flags in red, black, and white stretched into the streets. Marchers also bore Samoan, Tongan, Indigenous Australian, U.S., Palestinian, and Israeli flags. At Parliament, speeches from political leaders drew attention to the reason for the protest: a proposed bill that would change the meaning of the country’s founding treaty.
That document is the Treaty of Waitangi, drafted in 1840 between the Indigenous people and Great Britain. It promised rights of land and natural resources to the Māori people—and established their allegiance to the British Crown. The proposed bill would set specific definitions of the treaty’s principles and apply them to all New Zealanders, not only to Māori.
New Zealand gained full independence from Great Britain in 1947. However, the British Crown is still considered the head of state.
The new bill’s author, libertarian lawmaker David Seymour, has Māori ancestry. He says trying to right the wrongs of British rule has created special treatment for Indigenous people. He opposes that special treatment.
Opponents of Seymour’s bill say it would disrupt the New Zealand constitution, dilute Indigenous rights, and cause problems for the already mistreated Māori.
Tuesday’s rally was likely the country’s largest-ever protest in support of Māori rights.
Such marches are not new. But Tuesday’s crowds were larger than before, and the mood was different, Indigenous people say.
The marchers moved through the streets of Wellington with ringing Māori haka (chants) and waiata (songs). Thousands of people with signs lined the pavement in support.
Seymour’s bill is unpopular and unlikely to become law. But marchers say the negative attitude toward the bill has increased knowledge of the Treaty of Waitangi’s promises to Māori.
The Bible repeatedly commands kindness and respect to our fellow image-bearers. The situation in New Zealand is complicated by greed and failure to prefer others above one’s own rights or desires. What would New Zealand . . . or Asia . . . or the Middle East . . . or your school look like if everyone tried to“outdo one another in showing honor”? (Romans 12:10)
Marcher Papa Heta says Māori are seeking acknowledgement and respect. He hopes the Māori “can unite with our Pākehā friends, Europeans.” This protest, he says, was “a long time coming.”
