It started at the northern tip of the North Island, gathering momentum as it moved its way down the country. By the time the march – or hikoi – reached its conclusion nine days later outside parliament in Wellington it was thought to be one of the biggest New Zealand has ever seen, with 42,000 people taking part. The demonstration was sparked by what critics say is the rightwing government’s attempt to fundamentally redraw the relationship between the Māori people and the state.

A lawyer and activist Annette Sykes, who was on the march, says it was a unifying moment for Māori people, but also showed the strength of public feeling against a potential rollback of hard-won rights. She says she feels the new ruling coalition is coming up with divisive policies that “are actually trying to demolish that sense of unity that we have forged as a nation, that mutual respect”.

Eva Corlett, the Guardian’s New Zealand correspondent, explains how the relationship between the Māori people and the state has always been guided by a treaty between Māori and the British crown that dates from the 1840s. The coalition government, however, thinks the treaty principles have been distorted and the focus on the rights of Māori is unfair and is not making the country more equal. It has led to fears that progress in closing the gap between socioeconomic outcomes for Māori people and the wider New Zealand population will be lost. But, says Sykes, the unity on display at the protest showed “there’s still a desire in the psyche of average Mr and Mrs Smith to be bonded together by values of mutual respect”.