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

Members of New Zealand's parliament have rallied the international community in support of the island country's indigenous groups, as contentious legislation moves forward that could threaten Maori support systems.

Protesters dressed in traditional Māori attire performed hakas while marching alongside tens of thousands of people through the streets of the nation’s capital, Wellington, on Tuesday.