Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke of Te Pāti Māori stood and began a rhythmic Māori chant of challenge, which swelled to a roar as opposition lawmakers and spectators in the public gallery joined in.

The New Zealand Parliament was suspended after Maori members staged a haka to disrupt the vote on a contentious bill to reinterpret an 184-year-old treaty between the British and Indigenous Maori. The controversial legislation is seen by many Maori and their supporters as undermining the rights of the country’s Indigenous people,