Up to 10,000 people are estimated to have responded to the call from Kiingi Tuheitia, the Māori King, to a national hui in reaction to the Coalition Government's policies on te reo and the Treaty of Waitangi.
Thousands packed into Tūrangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāhia in sweltering conditions to listen to the opening pōwhiri, with speakers from Māori leaders to rangitahi.
Participants at Hui-aa-Motu for Te Iwi Maaori range from kaumātua in wheelchairs, to a two-week-old baby.
Politicians included Labour's Māori caucus, holding red fans to cope with the stifling humid heat, former MP Kiri Allan, a contingent of Green MPs and National's Tama Potaka and Dan Bidois.
The Kingitanga called for all attendees to be positive, peaceful, strength-based and future focused. The mood overall seems upbeat but determined.
Participants are now attending five breakout sessions. Each session has focus such as te reo Māori and Tikanga to National Unity, plus the Treaty, Wellbeing, and the Environment.
Speakers include Donna Awatere, Prof Meihana Durie, Hone Harawira and Dave Letele. The hui also extended an invitation to Dame Jenny Shipley and Dame Silvia Cartwright to be part of the National Unity forum - a decision that was controversial amongst some participants.
Anglican Church archbishop Don Tamihere addressed the crowd as one of the opening speakers on Saturday morning.
"Jesus didn't speak a word of English," he began.
"Jesus never set foot in a church a single day of his life, but he was raised in the mātauranga (knowledge, wisdom) of his tīpuna and his ancestor prophets."
Tamihere spoke at length of the importance of aroha over hatred.
"When and if we are confronted with hate, e te iwi, we have a choice. We can and we could respond in like-kind. We could fill ourselves with the same bitterness and with the same resentment, and the same condescension, and the same negativity that we see being expressed to us, by people that desire to vilify and to demonise and to marginalise te iwi Māori," he said.
"We could fill our hearts with the same, but in the end all we would do is become the same as them."
He said aroha can "give us the strength to walk this hīkoi" and "capture again this mana motuhake (Māori self-determination and sovereignty)".
"Our tamariki and our mokopuna are watching us."
The hui will close with remarks from Kiingi Tuheitia about 3pm.
