February 05, 2024
Performance art in Waitangi welcome
Protest met performance on the Treaty Grounds today as the grandchildren of Rāhiri welcomed manuhiri for Treaty of Waitangi commemorations.
First up was a rōpū led by activist turned artist Tame Iti, performing his Haaki Hatea – 600 marchers, tangata whenua and tangata tiriti, dressed in white carrying white flags not in surrender but a blank canvas for the future.
Next up were the Government parties.
The formal challenge from the hundreds of waka kai hoe was supplemented by protesters flanking the path holding up shields in the shape of the rat-eaten Treaty of Waitangi, splattered with paint.
The taumata was bolstered by the tribes of Aotearoa, including the Kiingitanga, with speaker after speaker challenging the Government to put its energy into honouring the treaty, not rewriting it.