Marchers wait in the pre-dawn mist for a karakia at Cape Reinga that launched the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti.
Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf
It was one New Zealand's largest-ever protest movements - Hīkoi mō te Tiriti. On the final day alone, estimates of the number of people who marched through Wellington ranged from 40,000 to 100,000.
Organisers had spent nearly a month mapping and planning Hīkoi mō te Tiriti - billed as both a march against the government's policies affecting Māori, and for tino rangatiratanga (sovereignty, self-determination).
On 10 November, the hīkoi set off from Cape Reinga, arriving at Parliament nine days later.
Across those nine days, there were many chants, signs and of course flags - a sea of red, white and black.
Te Rerenga Wairua: Riders in the mist
Riders in the mist at Cape Rēinga.
Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf
The banner which was eventually carried all the way across the North Island.
Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf
Arepa Lazarus, left, and Shontayne Brown arrived at the Cape on horseback.
Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf
Kairākau lead the hīkoi down Kaitāia's Commerce Street.
Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf
Marchers carry a banner down Kaitāia's Commerce Street.
Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf
Hīkoi participants on horseback in Kaitāia.
Photo: Peter de Graaf
Tahlia, 10, made sure she got the best view as the hīkoi arrived in Kawakawa.
Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf
Some participants in the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti opted to run parts of the route. These runners arrived in Kawakawa after travelling the hard way from Moerewa.
Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf
Hirini Tau, Hirini Henare and Mori Rapana lead the hīkoi through Kawakawa.
Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf
Te Kauri McPherson leads the haka in Kawakawa.
Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf
Whangārei and Dargaville: Proud to be Māori
The hīkoi musters outside Kākā Porowini Marae in Whangārei, having just arrived from Kawakawa earlier in the day.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
Relay runners rest in Whangārei.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
Hīkoi organiser Eru Kapa-Kingi tell his hometown he is proud of them as day two of the hīkoi activates in Whangārei.
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Tauira from Te Kāpehu Whetū break out into haka at the Laurie Hall Park activation.
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
The hīkoi gathers at Selwyn Park and prepares to march.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
The Little whānau holds flags off the back of their ute as the hīkoi prepares to match through Dargaville.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
Karanga and haka begin to fill the otherwise quiet streets of Dargaville as the hīkoi makes it way toward the Kaipara District Council building.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
A young kōtiro gets a better view of the crowd making its way down the road.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
Young kaihoe usher the hīkoi through the street.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
An eager kaihaka stands at attention.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
The hīkoi arrives outside the Kaipara District Council to protest the loss of the the region's Māori ward.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
Tāmaki Makaurau: Making the Harbour Bridge shake
Thousands meet at the Onepoto Domain on Auckland's North Shore in preparation for day three of the hīkoi.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
Hikoi mō Te Tiriti moves onto State Highway 1 towards the Harbour Bridge.
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi leads the hīkoi over the Harbour Bridge.
Photo: RNZ / Layla Bailey-McDowell
One of many placards seen throughout the hīkoi.
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
The front of the hīkoi marching over the Harbour Bridge.
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Crowds await the hīkoi at Ihumātao.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
Hīkoi organisers arrive at Ihumātao.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
Young Kaya and her mum show off their placards while resting beside the firepit at Ihumātao.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
Hamilton: Haka in the streets, haka in Parliament
Young toa prepare to march.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
The hīkoi sets off through Hamilton just after gathering at FMG Stadium.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
The hīkoi fills Hamilton's Victoria Street as it makes its way to Garden Place.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
A pēpi gets a bird's eye view as Garden Place fills to the brim with people.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
The Hamilton activation hits its peak.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke rips a copy of the Treaty Principles Bill in Parliament as she performs a haka which interupted the Bill's first reading.
Photo: RNZ/ Samuel Rillstone
Maipi-Clarke interrupts the vote on the Treaty Principles Bill with a haka taken up by members of the opposition and people in the public gallery. Before begining the haka Maipi-Clarke chants: "Kāwana! Ka whakamanuwhiritia koe e au." (Government! You exist by my consent.)
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Members of Te Pāti Māori and other opposition MPs join the haka during the Treaty Principles Bill's first reading.
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Rotorua: The cavalry arrives
Rotorua activates.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
The cavalry arrives to escort the hīkoi through Rotorua.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
Patariki Hill holds a tino rangatiratanga flag atop his horse Shadow.
Photo: RNZ / Layla Bailey-McDowell
Nannies take pics as the hīkoi passes by.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
Hipi mō Te Tiriti.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
A young wahine holds a picture of Māori war hero Robert 'Bom' Gillies, who died the week before the hīkoi began.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
Hawkes Bay and Manawatū: Treaty Principles Bill Nehua!
Over 5000 protestors gathered at the Hastings Clock Tower on day six of Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti.
Photo: RNZ / Pokere Paewai
Toa lead the march through central Hastings as part of Hīkoi mō Toitū Te Tiriti on 16 November.
Photo: RNZ / Pokere Paewai
The hīkoi marches through Hastings.
Photo: RNZ / Pokere Paewai
Young local Misbah speaks to the crowd in Hastings - "I feel the mana, I feel the aroha coming from here," he says.
Photo: RNZ/Pokere Paewai
Supporters of the hīkoi wave their flags as it passes through Dannevirke.
Photo: RNZ / Pokere Paewai
Supporters of the hīkoi in Dannevirke organise their own short hīkoi as the main convoy passes through the town.
Photo: RNZ / Pokere Paewai
Flags fly in the Square in Palmerston North as supporters gather for the hīkoi on 17 November.
Photo: RNZ/Pokere Paewai
Toitū te Tiriti supporters carry a banner through the Square in Palmerston North.
Photo: RNZ/Pokere Paewai
Some supporters of the hīkoi were crafty with their signs and fashion but one wahine in Palmerston took it to a new level creating 'Wahine o te Ao' over two days.
Photo: RNZ/Pokere Paewai
Tamariki get the best of view of the hīkoi as it passes through Palmerston North.
Photo: RNZ/Pokere Paewai
The hīkoi passes around the Square in Palmerston North.
Photo: RNZ/Pokere Paewai
Ōtautahi: Te Waipounamu joins the hīkoi
Rangatahi proud to represent their heritage.
Photo: Nathan Mckinnon
Hīkoi organiser Teresa Butler revving up the crowd at the activation event
Photo: Nathan Mckinnon
A pounamu was gifted to Teresa Butler to take on the travels as a safety net.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
The South Island rōpū spend over an hour in Kaikoura.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
People showing their support.
Photo: RNZ / Emma Andrews
The streets of Blenheim are filled with waiata and flags.
Photo: RNZ / Emma Andrews
Spirits are high for the crossing to the capital.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Pearler conditions for road and water travel.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Noel O'Malley drove from Balclutha to attend - he is now known as Papa Noel by many.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Ōtautahi Māori wardens made the round trip from Christchirch to Picton to tautoko the hīkoi group.
Photo: RNZ / Emma Andrews
All aboard! The waka is chocka with people who travel the Cook Strait.
Photo: RNZ / Emma Andrews
Wellingtonians greet the first lot of Southerners after they disembark the Interislander.
Photo: RNZ / Emma Andrews
Wellington: Hīkoi reaches record size
Ivan Olsen from Wainuiomata Marae on the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti as it heads into Wellington city.
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
A carkoi destined for Parliament moves through the city as the sun rises in the capital.
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
One of a number of kawe mate taken through the city.
Photo: RNZ / Sam Rillstone
Kaihaka representing each region the hīkoi passed through lead marchers to Parliament from the front of the pack.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
Hīkoi supporters line the streets near Waitangi Park.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
The crowd fills Parliament grounds.
Photo: RNZ / Reece Baker
Kuini Nga wai hono i te po makes her way towards the Beehive.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
A haka on Parliament grounds.
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Speaker Gerry Brownlee watches the protest from the tiles ahead of Question Time.
Photo: RNZ / Anneke Smith
ACT leader David Seymour makes a brief appearance outside Parliament.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell
Hīkoi participants outside Parliament perform a well-known haka written by Ngapo Wehi.
Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
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