A group of Auckland-based Māori performed a haka outside the US consulate to show their support for Native Americans protesting against the Dakota oil pipeline.
It's one of many haka being performed by Māori across the country in support of Native Americans in Dakota.
“The whanau and the people have come together in solidarity to support the whanau from the Sioux nation at Standing Rock to show and express our indignity and our heartfelt compassion towards the cause that’s happening over there,” says participant Benita Tahuri.
Protestor Eruini Hawke says, "We are really upset and concerned for those indigenous people in the US and their children and grandchildren who are suffering under the oppression of their government."
Around 30 Auckland-based Māori gathered outside the U.S. consulate in Auckland today city to express their concerns over the Dakota pipeline project.
"I think to stop this from happening, all the indigenous people of the world need to stand together in unity under the mantle of peace," said Hawke.
Māori across the country and the world have been inspired to perform haka by a man who performed solo on the protest frontline at Standing Rock, Tika Tonu of Ngāti Kahungunū.
“These decisions are going to happen and I think the world is changing and we are rising to a conscious level of unity and the time is now. So I’m more concerned about what we are doing and how we unite because from that power of us uniting locally and globally we can make change in the world we have technology to support that,” says Tahuri.
A Givealittle page has raised over $4,000 dollars for a Māori contingent to travel to Dakota at the end of this month to support protestors. Benita Tahuri will be traveling with the group.