For most New Zealanders, Waitangi Day is about rest and relaxation but for others it has become a symbol of Maori activism.
This year it was again the scene of protests as more than 1,000 marched on the Treaty grounds at Waitangi.
The bridge has withstood the weight of more than 20 years of protest and 2008 is no different. The hikoi snaked from the lower marae to the Treaty grounds, the passion still there, but peaceful these days.
"The challenges haven't gone away. They must continue but they need to be made with dignity," says Titewhai Harawira, veteran activist.
It's a move supported by another veteran activist, Mary Anne Pittman.
"It's an opportune time for those iwi and apu that have raru raru with the Crown during the year to come and formally do something about it," says Pittman.
And high on the agenda is the so called terror raids last year.
The most high profile face of the raids, Tame Iti, used Waitangi Day to call for support for the Maori sovereignty movement.
Tame Iti's son Toikairakau says life with his father branded as a terrorist has been tough.
"My father being making out as a bogey man, no-one needs to be a bogey man, no-one needs to be scared of him," says Toikairakau.
The very presence of the veteran activist rankled Prime Minister Helen Clark.
"I understand he's only here because TVNZ paid for him to be there. That's a waste of taxpayer money," Clark says.
But TVNZ says it didn't pay for him to come to Waitangi and only met some family expenses like it would for any other guest.
Wally Haumaha, a top Maori policeman involved in the so-called terror raids was on the march, standing up to the verbal attacks.
"Oh yeah there are a couple of them. If you look back at that crowd of 30,000, if two are having a go at police that's not a bad percentage," says Haumaha.
A tight circle of police surrounded the flag pole on the Treaty grounds which in previous years has been the focal point of violent confrontations.
The protesters drew strength by performing a haka outside the meeting house that belongs to all Maori, handing over the movement to a new generation.
Helen Kaipo has lead the march for the past five years and while she's passionate about the protest movement, says this could be her last as it's time for younger people to take it over.
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