In the pouring rain, the grandmothers made their way to the puriri tree in in single file with black lace veils covering their faces.
When they reached its wide truck at the edge of Graham's Bush in Manukau, they said a prayer, laid flowers and then together they pressed their palms onto the 400-year-old tree's bark and wailed.
Some of the six groaned while others openly wept as television cameras zoomed in on their pained faces as they pressed against the tree which is set to be felled to make way for the Redoubt Rd motorway upgrade.
After "making contact with the tree and feeling it's grief", the women stepped back and said a prayer telling it: "May you live on in the spirits of the earth".
The six grandmothers then turned to one another, stood in a huddle, veiled heads touching and began to hum.