Video: Whangarei locals stand with Standing Rock's Sioux protesters

More than 150 people turned out last night for a haka in solidarity with a group of indigenous Americans protesting a multibillion-dollar oil pipeline. Haka with Standing Rock is a kaupapa which has swept New Zealand, as Standing Rock's Sioux tribe continue to oppose the construction of an oil pipeline in North Dakota which they fear will threaten their water source and sacred sites. Yesterday, about 150 people gathered by Hihiaua Peninsula's Waka and Wave sculpture, where the floor was opened to speakers who drew parallels between the situation in North Dakota and issues affecting Northland Maori. These included the presence of an Australian drilling company at Puhipuhi, a controversial consent for a water bottling plant at Poroti and a finding that Maori did not cede sovereignty over Aotearoa. The all-ages crowd then launched into a series of three rousing haka. Kate Hei organised the haka with Huhana Lyndon who said the event was about "acting locally, thinking globally".