A sign at parliament during a march and rally organised by Te Pāti Māori as part of nationwide protests against the government's policies affecting Māori. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
A Tauranga based iwi has made an urgent claim to the Waitangi Tribunal accusing the government of attacking Māori culture and language.
The Ngai Te Rangi Settlements Trust says the coalition is breaching article two of the Treaty by failing to protect te reo.
It is claiming the government is acting like a "drunken sailor".
Trust chair Charlie Tawhiao told Morning Report the scaling back of the language showed an undermining of the progress that has been made over the last five decades.
He said an example of the country going backwards included the reduction in the use of te reo by public servants.
"What we're potentially worried about is the fact that having revived the language from where it was 50 years ago, we're now seeing it being pushed back into those times again.
"It just seems ludicrous that we would have made this progress, to suddenly reverse it is as though te reo was no longer relevant. It is even more relevant today than it was 50 years ago. I think they're a bunch of dinosaurs behaving as though it's 1948," Tawhiao said.
Listen to Charlie Tawhiao speaking
It was an attack on te reo and effectively an attack on Māori.
Charlie Tawhiao is worried the government is effectively making an attack on Māori with the policies it is pursuing. Photo: RNZ / Justine Murray
The catalyst for the urgent claim was last Tuesday's national day of protest action organised by Te Pāti Māori in which there was a much higher turnout and interest than his iwi expected.
He said he was surprised by the number of Pākeha supporters who attended the protests.
"They were there for the same reason that we were there. There was an attack on all of the progress that's been made by Māori and by New Zealand over the last 50 years that they saw being undermined and they feared for the future of their mokopuna," Tawhiao said.
He said he hoped the Waitangi Tribunal would be able to guide the government through "the mess they've made" and help them observe the established principals of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
The Māori Development and Treaty Negotiations Ministers have not responded to RNZ's requests for interviews.