Long-time Māori activist and author Te Ringa Mangu (Dun) Mihaka has died, Ngāpuhi has confirmed.

He was 81 years old.

Mihaka devoted decades of his life to Māori rights campaigns, including the 1977-78 Takaparawhau/Bastion Point occupation.

In 1979, Mihaka challenged the legal status of te reo Māori, after the District Court had refused to let him speak te reo Māori during proceedings

He first went to the High Court and then to the Court of Appeal

While he lost the battle, Mihaka’s appeal heped push te reo Māori to be recognised as an official language in 1987.

In 1981, Mihaka was arrested for burning a Union Jack flag during then-Prince Charles’ visit to Waitangirua Mall, Porirua on April 1. Two officers scrambled up a bus stop Mihaka had occupied, stamping out the flames with their feet.

Fifty more protesters waved placards and shouted slogans including “Charlie go home”, “Poor Lady Di”, and “In the end the black people will win”.

In 1983 Mihaka performed whakapohane [baring buttocks] to Charles and the late Princess Diana on their royal tour of New Zealand – potentially his most well known act.

Mihaka wrote two books about the preservation and restoration of tikanga Māori, titled ‘Whakapohane: I Na Tuohu Koe Me Mea Hei Maunga Tei Tei’, released in 1984, and ‘Te Hono Ki Riipia’, released in 1989.

Moe mai rā, e te rangatira.