Protesters dressed in traditional Māori attire performed hakas while marching alongside tens of thousands of people through the streets of the nation’s capital, Wellington, on Tuesday.

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.

Tens of thousands of people marched on New Zealand's parliament to oppose a bill that would reinterpret a 184-year-old treaty signed between the British and Indigenous Maori.

Booming Indigenous Maori "haka" chants rang out across New Zealand's capital on Tuesday, as tens of thousands rallied against a conservative push to redefine the nation's founding treaty. Protests have been swelling throughout New Zealand after a minor party in the conservative coalition government drafted a bill to redefine the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi.

New Zealand's parliament was briefly suspended on Thursday after Maori members staged a haka to disrupt the vote on a contentious bill that would reinterpret a 184-year-old treaty between the British and Indigenous Maori.

Protesters March on Parliament to Oppose New Zealand Maori Rights Bill | Vantage With Palki Sharma Thousands gather at New Zealand's parliament to protest a bill they say undermines Maori rights. An estimated 42,

Tens of thousands of New Zealanders gathered outside the parliament in one of the country’s largest demonstrations to oppose the Treaty Principles Bill, which critics say undermines Maori rights and threatens race relations.

Tens of thousands of New Zealanders confronted parliament to protest a law to redefine a treaty between the Maori and Britain.

The protests have evolved into “a celebration of a resurging Indigenous language and identity that colonization had once almost destroyed,” the Associated Press wrote.

A controversial bill has ignited a 'flashpoint in race relations' as opponents claim it will undermine the rights of Indigenous people