A hīkoi (protest march) spanning the entirety of New Zealand’s north island against the government’s constitutionally consequential “Treaty Principles Bill” began Monday from Cape Reinga, the country’s northernmost point.

Following in the footsteps of historic Māori protest marches, such as the 1975 Land March, which demanded recognition for Indigenous forms of communal ownership in property law, the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti kicked off with an estimated 1000-strong group early on Monday morning.

Protesters will cover over 1,000 kilometers in nine days on their journey to Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand’s capital. Along the route, participants will join local demonstrators for rallies in urban centers, where numbers are expected to swell dramatically. One notable stop is in the country’s most populated city, Auckland, where the convoy will march over the harbor bridge and continue to Bastion Point and Ihumatao – two significant sites of previous Māori protests. 

The hīkoi promises to be one of the most significant expressions of Indigenous protest this year, as Māori and Tangata Tiriti (people of the Treaty; non-Māori allies) join to voice their opposition to a suite of policies instated by the right-wing coalition government that is regarded as corrosive to Indigenous rights.

Chief among them is the hotly contested Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, introduced early to Parliament last Thursday. The bill defines in statute the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi/te Tiriti o Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding constitutional document signed between Māori and the Crown in 1840. Te Tiriti guaranteed to Māori, among other things, ultimate power and authority over their lands, kainga (villages), and all their taonga (treasured possessions, both tangible and intangible). The bill is widely accepted as a misrepresentation of the original document and has the effect of extinguishing, in a legal sense, the right of Māori to self-determination and sovereignty.

Treaty principles are words and phrases intended to capture the “spirit” of the Treaty to enable its incorporation into law. Describing the principles has historically been a job for the courts and Waitangi Tribunal, a specialist, quasi-legal body tasked with investigating breaches of the Treaty. Despite assurances from all major political parties except the bill’s architect, ACT New Zealand, its introduction is expected to cause lasting damage to the government’s relationship with Māori.

Also front in the minds of protesters is the government’s stated intention to reverse a decision of New Zealand’s Court of Appeal increasing the threshold for Māori to receive customary marine title over the foreshore and seabed to an unworkable level. Controversy over this issue has been long-standing and sparked in a similar hīkoi in 2004, ending at parliament with an assemblage of over 15,000 demonstrators.

Protesters will demonstrate in the northland towns of Whangārei and Dargaville before making their way to Auckland’s North Shore in preparation for Wednesday’s activation in the city of Sails.