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.

A recent protest in New Zealand's Parliament in which lawmakers broke into a Haka—a traditional Maori dance—has attracted global attention. One might wonder, what egregious measure under protest warranted such a dramatic show of opposition?

New Zealand's parliament was suspended and two lawmakers were ejected during a vote on a controversial proposed law redefining the country’s founding agreement between Indigenous Māori and the British Crown.