New Zealanders march for Māori rights

Tens of thousands marched through New Zealand’s capital Tuesday, protesting a bill to reshape the country’s founding treaty that critics say would jeopardize Māori sovereignty. While the bill is largely unpopular and unlikely to pass, the protests have evolved into “a celebration of a resurging Indigenous language and identity that colonization had once almost destroyed,” the Associated Press wrote, and the demonstrations reflect a growing solidarity over Indigenous rights from non-Māori residents.

Today’s New Zealanders are “more culturally aware, they love their kids learning the Māori language and embracing diversity,” a Māori politician wrote for the New Zealand Herald.