Analysis: The last time people walked every inch of Parliament, the police were called.

Cobblestones were torn up and thrown at police, the playground on the Parliament lawn was set on fire and the Speaker of the House used sprinklers and loud music to dissuade protesters.

The occupation of Parliament was a horrific chapter in New Zealand history; an example of what can happen when communities become divided, people feel isolated and afraid, and anger becomes the dominant emotion.

In the summer of 2022, the world was watching New Zealand for the wrong reasons.

On Tuesday, the world was watching again. But this time it was different.

Tens of thousands of people marched outside Parliament on Tuesday to protest the Treaty Principles Bill, as well as a range of other policies that appear likely to impact the rights and obligations enshrined in the Treaty. Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti – now considered the largest parliamentary protest in history – remained peaceful.

The tikanga was set at the start of the day by hīkoi organizer Eru Kapa-Kingi: “Do things that your tupuna would be proud of today and do things that your mokopuna will be proud of one day. »

Some of these mokopuna led the hīkoi to Parliament, while the smaller ones were dragged in prams and buggies, or carried in backpacks.

“Led by tupuna; driven by mokopuna,” one sign read.

These tamariki and rangatahi covered the grounds of Parliament. Some climbed aging pohutukawa trees and perched on concrete posts. Others spilled out onto the paths surrounding Parliament, picnicking in the streets with their whānau.

Many of those who demonstrated gave simple reasons for being there: “It’s in my blood”; “For my mokopuna”; “Because it’s the right thing to do.”

When it came time for politicians to meet the crowd, Labor leader Chris Hipkins walked towards the barrier separating Parliament forecourt from the hikoi. He stayed there for two hours. Listen.

By the time Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke, Māori MP for Te Pāti, addressed the tens of thousands gathered at Parliament House, millions of people around the world knew her face.

A week earlier, Maipi-Clarke had performed the Ngāti Toa haka. Ka Mate in the House of Representatives in response to the first reading of the bill – which hikoi members saw as an appropriate way to challenge the legislation.

The video was shared around the world by international media, celebrities and indigenous activists.

“The world is watching us here,” Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke told the crowd gathered at Parliament on Tuesday.

“Because we haka, because we have our reo and because we have our culture.”

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi used his moment on the microphone to rally the troops.

“Where to from here?” Yes, Tino Rangatiratanga is ours but we must have a Kāwanatanga strategy. Get on the Maori list. Everyone has a responsibility to our mokopuna to come forward and ensure that we do not have a fascist government like we have today.”

Waititi referred to the haka in Parliament last week against the party’s Treaty Principles Act bill which has been shared around the world. “Thanks to Hana, the whole world is watching us.”

He then spoke of “a heated confrontation” with David Seymour, when he told the Act party leader he was not welcome to address the hikoi. “You’re really right, I told you not to come!”

Meanwhile, Seymour left Parliament to “confront the hikoi”.

The architect of the Treaty Principles Bill remained near the buildings, flanked by his Act party colleagues. A line of police stood between Seymour and the crowd.

Having not been offered speaking time, Seymour instead used his time on Parliament Square to shoot a video for social media, which he shared on Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s a message that I was hoping to convey to the people who have demonstrated so far, but who, unfortunately, are not ready for me to speak to them and address them,” he said. he declared.

“I guess it’s because if they were to hear the real me rather than the caricature they’ve constructed, they would suddenly be disappointed.”

Seymour said he wanted to have a discussion about what the treaty “really means.” “Is it a contract between two collectives defined by ancestry, or something that gives everyone equal rights to flourish?

Seymour later told reporters that although it was “quite difficult to hear a lot of what was being said”, he still thought it was important to go to the forecourt.

“It was helpful to be there to listen,” he said. Seymour then said: “I wish I had come out and talked.”

NZ First’s Shane Jones is perched on the edge of a garden, people-watching and listening. Jones has not been shy about criticizing Te Pāti Māori and the hikoi itself, but on Tuesday he remained silent.

National ministers Tama Potaka and Shane Reti, along with National backbenchers, took to the forecourt to speak with members of the crowd.

The Prime Minister did not meet the hikoi.

As protesters gathered outside and inside, Christopher Luxon reiterated the National Party’s position: “We will not support the bill beyond the second reading, and therefore it will not become law . »

He said he planned to meet the hikoi, but many of those who walked to his door were affiliated with Te Pāti Māori. And like Seymour, he did not receive an invitation to speak.

Meanwhile, inside a dimmed house with an empty public gallery, Luxon spoke of the delegation of National MPs who visited the forecourt, then said he had met with iwi leaders “in all the country and would continue to do so.

Former Labor Prime Minister Helen Clark did not meet the foreshore and seabed hikoi in Parliament in 2004.

There was a lasting breakdown in relations with Māori due to the legislation and the way Clark’s Labor government handled it.

While Seymour was the focus of the day, Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti watched over Luxon. They will remember the Prime Minister’s handling of the Treaty Principles Bill.