For more than fifty years, photographer John Miller has documented protests and important cultural events across Aotearoa New Zealand. His photographs of protests about issues affecting Māori are iconic, including two hīkoi, thirty years apart, that saw thousands march to Parliament. On 14 September 1975, fifty marchers left Te Hāpua in Te Tai Tokerau Northland led by 79-year-old Dame Whina Cooper (Te Rarawa, 1895–1994) and Te Roopu Matakite o Aotearoa. The protestors walked the length of Te Ika-a-Māui North Island, staying at marae along the way, and arrived at Parliament in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington on 13 October. Their contingent has grown to 5,000 with a petition of 60,000 signatures. The hīkoi combined the leadership and experience of kaumātua with the radical activism of Ngā Tamatoa to bring Māori issues of land and cultural loss to public attention. The slogan remains galvanising: Not one more acre of Māori land.

hīkoi ~ march, walk

He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil (from August 2024)