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National | Hīkoi

Toitū te Tiriti Hīkoi: Asian community joins the fight

The Toitū te Tiriti Hīkoi saw an estimated 5000 people join in Tāmaki Makurau, with many people from different ethnicities and cultures supporting the movement.

One of those groups, Asians Supporting Tino Rangatiratanga, was spotted holding large signs to tautoko the kaupapa.

Member Kristy Fong called the hīkoi “a beautiful celebration of unity”.

She said the group was there because it was important to honour te Tiriti o Waitangi.

“It‘s our first immigration document and it’s the one that gives us the opportunity to live in this beautiful beautiful country.

“We’re saying we want to stand together, stand strong into a future of constitutional transformation.”

Asians Supporting Tino Rangatiratanga had been working hard to prepare for Wednesday’s hīkoi, making signs and getting everything ready.

The group started in 2016 with the guidance of rangatira Māori like Moana Jackson, Mereana Pitman, Annette Sykes and Marama Davidson.

“We were just a small group of Asians who thought that we needed to stand in solidarity of mana whenua, tangata whenua here in Aotearoa, who give us so much and give us a place that we can be here and belong.

“It’s only right as manuhiri on the marae that is Aotearoa, for us to be in a good, loving, reciprocal relationship with each other.”

People in the hīkoi are steadily making their way toward Okahu Bay on foot, travelling through the CBD and along Tāmaki Drive. Participants are sticking to the footpaths but police are warning motorists to expect delays in the city as the march progresses.