Analysis - When Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka stood to speak on the paepae during Waitangi Day commemorations a rōpu of wāhine Māori arose from their seats and turned their backs.
They stood in silence, clutching hands, with tears running down their faces - united in protest against the government's words..
There's a common misconception that because men are more often seen speaking on the paepae, women don't hold power in Te ao Māori. This is a fallacy that misinterprets tikanga Māori as simple when it is actually complex and nuanced.
The power that wāhine have on marae was evident in today's events. It was the women who had coordinated the protest, planning carefully in the lead up to the pōwhiri for government officials.
And whilst their 'activation' wasn't widely advertised, and this group doesn't have the social media following others do, it was still just as effective.
The pōwhiri mō te kāwanatanga is a chance each year for politicians to have their say, and for the haukāinga - home people - and te ao Māori, to respond.
The speech of ACT Party David Seymour at Waitangi this year was highly anticipated, more so than usual, given his controversial Treaty Principles Bill is currently before the select committee.
It meant that Māori leaders were quick to shut his kōrero down when they deemed he had spoken for long enough.
The wāhine, who had all arisen before, turning their backs, once again did. This time the men followed.
Photo: Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Speaking to RNZ after the pōwhiri, Hinerangi Himiona, held back tears describing her motivation behind participating.
"We've suffered the brunt of consecutive governments since the signing of our beautiful Tiriti o Waitangi, which is very clear. We shouldn't have to be still fighting, but we are still fighting. That's why we are here today to try and minimize giving to this coalition government the anger they seek and the reaction they seek. We've leant into our tikanga, into our history."
The protest was about more than just the Treaty Principles Bill, Himiona explained, it represented the mamae her people are currently feeling.
"It represents the 827 mokopuna that are in state care, the numbers of our women and our men that are in prisons that continue to rise at the hands of this government. What we represent, and what we tangi (cry) for today, is all of that.
"There's a lot to cry about, and there's a lot to be angry about," Himiona said.
What they were wearing also held significance with a deep whakapapa and history.
Photo: Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Draped in homemade red woollen blankets hand-stitched with Tino Rangatiratanga and He Whakaputanga flags, Frances Goulton, the wāhine who led the activation, explained the meaning.
Called 'paraikete whero' (red blankets), a group of wāhine including Goulton adopted the idea as a symbol of resistance. They started stitching 15 years ago at the Waitangi Treaty hearing in Whangaparoa, supporting the kaupapa by sewing blankets in the background.
The blankets tell the stories of land loss and the injustices they endured. Blankets also hold significance as they were once used as a form of currency to purchase land.
Goulton also says that similar blankets were hanging in the trees on the Upper Treaty Grounds in 1940, 100 years after the signing of the treaty, making it even more symbolic.
"We're still fighting this fight for our rangatiratanga for our manaakitanga for our kaitiakitanga for our oranga, all those things we're still fighting and we shouldn't be in 2024. He mamae nui tērā, ko ēnei ngā wāhine e tautoko ana i tērā mamae nui." (There's a lot of hurt, as wāhine we are here to support with that hurt).
The wāhine were supported by Ngāti Wai rangatira, Aperahama Edwards, who was the first and only kaikōrero from the haukāinga today.
"It's no surprise that our people are hurting. And I think the shame of the policies being advanced that deliberately attack Māori rights, that deliberately deny and suppress tino rangatiratanga, have caused deep seated angst and pain, and so it was expected that those sentiments be relayed in the pōwhiri," he told RNZ.
Ngāti Wai leader Aperahama Edwards stands on the paepae to speak at the pōwhiri for Government officials during Waitangi commemorations 2025. Photo: Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Edwards took matters into his own hands during the pōwhiri and took the microphone from Seymour while he was speaking - a more unusual act of protest not appreciated by all of his whānaunga sitting beside him.
Still, he thought it was the right thing to do.
"I heard parties express that there is no chance that the Treaty Principles Bill will go through to completion. My question is, why allow it to even surface? It's caused so much pain and shame.
"It's been an emotional year. I could feel our tupuna and the hollow promises that were made to them. And I was thinking about our mokopuna, and I'm mindful that our time upon the earth is only finite, and our thinking has to be future focused to the generations that are to come. And as a country, we need to aspire to do better."
In that brief moment, when the iwi of Te Tai Tokerau turned their backs, it was a unified statement. Their collective opposition spoke louder than any words, a quiet refusal to let their voices and concerns be forgotten.
