Maori Party co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer were banished from parliament for 21 days, the longest-ever suspension.
The bans stem from a haka performed during voting in November on the contentious Treaty Principles Bill, which sought to redefine the principles of a key pact between Maori and the government.
“In my maiden speech, I talked about one of our (ancestors) who was hung in the gallows of Mt Eden Prison, wrongfully accused,“ Waititi said.
“Now you’ve traded the noose for legislation. Well, we will not be silenced.”
New Zealand’s foreign affairs minister Winston Peters earlier mocked Waititi for his traditional full-face Maori tattoo.
“The one that’s shouting down there, with the scribbles on his face... can’t keep quiet for five seconds.”
‘We get punished’
She was joined by Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer, who strode on to the chamber floor chanting the Ka Mate haka famously performed by the country’s All Blacks rugby team.
The trio were hauled before parliament’s powerful Privileges Committee, but refused to take part in the hearing.
Maipi-Clarke said Maori would not be silenced.
“Yet when we stand up for the country’s foundational document, we get punished with the most severe consequences.”
Many critics saw the bill as an attempt to wind back the special rights given to the country’s 900,000-strong Maori population.
Parliament resoundingly voted down the bill in April.
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