Story: Ngā rōpū tautohetohe – Māori protest movements

This iconic image shows politician Sir Apirana Ngata leading the haka at the centennial celebrations at Waitangi in 1940. Ngata was forthright in his comments at the time, saying, ‘I do not know of any year the Maori people have approached with so much misgiving as this Centennial Year ... In retrospect what does the Maori see? Lands gone, the power of chiefs humbled in the dust, Maori culture scattered and broken.’ He also observed that some Māori had worn red blankets at Waitangi as a reminder of land injustices.