A vote in New Zealand’s parliament was suspended and two lawmakers ejected Thursday amid debate over a controversial proposed law redefining the country’s founding agreement between Indigenous Māori and the British Crown.

New Zealand’s Parliament was temporarily suspended on Thursday as Māori lawmakers performed a haka, a traditional group dance, demonstrating their community’s anger and fear over a bill that aims to reinterpret the country’s founding treaty with its Indigenous people.

Members of New Zealand's parliament have rallied the international community in support of the island country's indigenous groups, as contentious legislation moves forward that could threaten Maori support systems.

This is the moment New Zealand Maori MPs disrupt parliament with a haka to protest against a treaty bill. New Zealand’s parliament was briefly suspended on Thursday (14 November), after Maori members staged a haka to disrupt the vote on a contentious bill that could reinterpret an 184-year-old treaty between the British and Indigenous Maori.

New Zealand's youngest MP Hana-Rawhiti Kareariki Maipi-Clarke has once again grabbed the headlines after a video of her staging the traditional Maori dance and ripping up a copy of a contentious bill during a House session went viral on social media.

Maori lawmakers vehemently oppose the bill, viewing it as a direct threat to the hard-won rights of their community. By performing the haka in Parliament, they expressed their dis