The man known as the Māori Santa Claus has spoken out for the first time since the Nelson Santa parade.
Rob Herewini faced a tirade of online abuse for his part in the township's 2018 Santa parade.
Instead of dressing in Santa's traditional red and white costume, Mr Herewini had no beard and wore a short-sleeved shirt and red korowai, carrying a large fish hook sceptre as he sat on Santa's traditional sleigh.
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He told Māori current affairs show Marae he didn't wear the typical Santa hat, beard and red suit as he was a Polynesian-inspired Santa, representing Nelson's Māori community.
"When I went down that parade on the back of that float and saw all the Māori people cheering me and the Māori kids, that was it - that's what made me feel good inside."
Mr Herewini says he was shocked by the backlash.
"As we were travelling down the street on the float, you could actually feel the shocked look on the faces of the people and a lot of those were Pākehā people," Mr Herewini told Marae.
"You know people were giving me the thumbs down or booing me."
He says the last week has been "quite draining" for himself and his family.
"Some of those comments are pretty shocking."
But despite this, Mr Herewini isn't backing down, and will continue to represent Māori across the country.
The parade organisers were forced to apologise after the parade and acknowledged some children may have been upset by the lack of a traditional Santa.
Newshub.
