WELLINGTON — Hundreds of people on Nov 11 set out on a nine-day march to New Zealand's capital of Wellington in protest over legislation that would reinterpret a treaty at the heart of race relations in the Pacific country.

Convoys of cars and marchers set off after a dawn ceremony at Cape Reinga, in the country's far north, and will stage rallies in towns and cities as they move south, according to Eru Kapa Kingi, spokesman for Toitu Te Tiriti or Honour the Treaty.

While the march, or hikoi, was sparked by the Bill currently before Parliament, organisers hope it will ignite a broader conversation about New Zealand's relationship to Maori, he said.

"This is to build a hunger not just with Maori but also people in Aotearoa (New Zealand) to properly understand the people of this country and what happened to Indigenous people," he said.

The Treaty of Waitangi, first signed in 1840 between the British Crown and more than 500 Maori chiefs, lays down how the two parties agreed to govern.

The interpretation of clauses in this document guides legislation and policy today.

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