Maori lawmakers perform haka to disrupt controversial bill vote in New Zealand

Parliament was briefly suspended on Thursday after Maori members performed a haka — a traditional ceremonial group dance — to disrupt the vote on a controversial bill.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

In political news outside the U.S., New Zealand Parliament was briefly suspended yesterday after Maori members performed a haka, a traditional ceremonial group dance, to disrupt the vote on a controversial bill.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Vocalizing).

JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:

The haka is a powerful performance. You might have seen it before in viral videos from a Maori person's graduation, sporting event or other celebration. Traditionally, it's a way to show pride and display power for people that make up one-fifth of the country.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Chanting in Maori).

SHAPIRO: The bill that Parliament was about to vote on aims to reinterpret the country's founding treaty with the Maori people. The 184-year-old treaty between the British and Indigenous Maori lays out how the two parties agreed to govern, promising the Maori rights to their lands and giving other protections in exchange for British rule. And it still shapes legislation today.

SUMMERS: Supporters of the bill say it would allow the treaty to be interpreted more fairly and ensure equality for all New Zealanders, while the Indigenous people criticizing the bill say it could undo work aim to redress the wrong done to the Maori during colonization and that it undermines the rights of the country's Indigenous people.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RAWIRI WAITITI: Te Tiriti o Waitangi is superior to any person and any law ever created in this house. It is the constitutional document.

SHAPIRO: Rawiri Waititi is the co-leader of the Te Pati Maori party. He spoke in front of Parliament against the bill.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

WAITITI: This Parliament means nothing. The only reason this Parliament exists in Aotearoa is because our tipuna consented to it. The only people who can make changes in an agreement are the parties who signed it.

HANA-RAWHITI KAREARIKI MAIPI-CLARKE: (Singing in Maori).

SHAPIRO: Hana-Rawhiti Kareariki Maipi-Clarke began the Haka after being asked whether her party supported the bill. At 22, she is the youngest member of the New Zealand Parliament.

SUMMERS: When the haka starts, you can hear an exasperated Gerry Brownlee, the speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, saying, no, don't do that. She rips a copy of the controversial bill in half and then throws it on the floor. Other Maori MPs join her in the haka.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Chanting in Maori).

SHAPIRO: The bill is unlikely to pass, but thousands of protesters supporting the Maori cause are still marching to Wellington, the country's capital. Their nine-day march is expected to conclude on Tuesday.

(SOUNDBITE OF JORJA SMITH SONG, "GREATEST GIFT")

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