New Zealand’s Parliament was briefly suspended on Thursday after Maori members staged a haka to disrupt a vote on a controversial bill that would reinterpret a 184-year-old treaty between the British and indigenous Maori.

First signed in 1840 between the British Crown and more than 500 Maori chiefs, the Treaty of Waitangi sets out how both parties agreed to govern. The interpretation of the document’s clauses still guides legislation and policy today.

Decisions by the courts and a separate Māori tribunal have gradually expanded Māori rights and privileges over the decades. However, some argue that this constitutes discrimination against non-native citizens.

The ACT New Zealand party, junior partner in the ruling center-right coalition government, last week revealed a bill to enshrine in law a narrower interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi.

As parliamentarians met for a preliminary vote on the bill on Thursday, Maori MPs in Te Pati stood up and began performing a haka, a traditional Maori dance made famous by the New Zealand rugby team.

Parliament was briefly suspended as people in the gallery joined in, and the screams drowned out others in the room.

ACT New Zealand leader David Seymour said opponents of the bill wanted to “stove” fear and division. “My mission is to empower every person,” he added.

The controversial legislation, however, is seen by many Māori and their supporters as undermining the rights of the country’s indigenous people, who make up about 20 percent of the population of 5.3 million.

Hundreds of people have undertaken a nine-day march, or hikoi, from northern New Zealand to the national capital, Wellington, to protest the legislation, holding rallies in towns and villages as they are heading south.

They will arrive in Wellington next Tuesday where tens of thousands of people are expected to gather for a large rally.

Although the bill passed its first reading, it is unlikely to garner enough support to pass.

Coalition partners the National Party and New Zealand First are only supporting the bill on the first of three readings as part of the coalition agreement. Both parties have said they will not support this bill becoming law, meaning it will almost certainly fail.

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