The first of two ceremonies to open Parliament takes place on Tuesday.
The MPs will declare their allegiance to the King and elect a Speaker.
But Te Pāti Māori - who have organised today's Nationwide Action Day calling for respect for tangata whenua and te Tiriti - do not want to read that oath but they must.
They say they will also pledge allegiance to "our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi".
Otago University professor Andrew Geddis spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.