Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will be formally welcomed to Waitangi today but there is some discontent about the decision to remove the powhiri from Te Tii Marae.
Ardern's powhiri will be held at what is known as the "upper marae" on the Treaty grounds rather than at Te Tii Marae.
While there are still powhiri at Te Tii Marae, it will not play host to the politicians.The decision to move it to the upper grounds was made after protests and other incidents at Te Tii Marae which resulted in a succession of former Prime Ministers - Helen Clark, Sir John Key and Bill English - deciding to avoid it.
Te Tii elder Kingi Taurua said he would be at the powhiri for Ardern but was unhappy about the decision to move it, saying it would deprive Ngapuhi of the chance to raise issues of concern with the Government of the day.
"In Waitangi [at Te Tii] they challenge the government about their policies. Here [at the upper marae], they don't. They massage the Government's back and so it's quite different."