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.

Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke of Te Pāti Māori stood and began a rhythmic Māori chant of challenge, which swelled to a roar as opposition lawmakers and spectators in the public gallery joined in.

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?