The Ihumātao movement brought Waitangi to a halt today.
Hundreds joined the march onto Treaty Grounds but protesters were left disappointed and bewildered by the lack of resolution.
Waitangi was brought to a standstill by a movement that continues to gain momentum.
Protestors who have been occupying land at Ihumātao in South Auckland took their fight to the North today where they were welcomed by locals in a defiant display of togetherness.
"Ihumātao has become the bastion point of this generation, Ihumātao represents a reoccupation of land illegally acquired by the Crown," Mana Movement party leader Hone Harawira told Newshub.
Protestors had been expecting an announcement on the future of the whenua by Waitangi Day but that didn't happen.
"I was somewhat bewildered when there was a delay in the resolution but we've been patient for 156 years so I'm sure we can give them another six days," Maori land rights activist Pania Newton told Newshub.
What started out as a small hikoi quickly grew in numbers as young and old added their voices to the chorus of protestors, choosing to drown the government's silence in deafening noise.
Newshub spoke with protestors: "Every second on the whenua is progress, and every second on the whenua without housing next to it is a statement in itself.
"It's good and it's exciting but it's sad and frustrating because it's taken this long," one participant said.
The government is adamant work is being done behind the scenes.
"A good resolution may indeed take some time," Green Party leader Marama Davidson told Newshub.
As the hikoi arrived at the Treaty Grounds, the backdrop for New Zealand's most important negotiations, it was a feeling of hope that superseded all else.
