Te Ringa Mangu Nathan Mihaka or Dun Mihaka is a Māori activist, author, and political candidate in New Zealand.

Mihaka has been involved in a number of campaigns regarding Māori rights, and was involved in the Bastion Point

Bastion Point

Bastion Point is a coastal piece of land in Orakei, Auckland, New Zealand, overlooking the Waitemata Harbour. The area has significance in New Zealand history for its role in 1970s Māori protests against forced land alienation by non Māori New Zealanders.-History:The land was occupied by Ngāti...

 land dispute. His 1979 attempts to use Māori language

Maori language

Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...

 in court were appealed to the Court of Appeal

Court of Appeal of New Zealand

The Court of Appeal of New Zealand, located in Wellington, is New Zealand’s principal intermediate appellate court. In practice, most appeals are resolved at this intermediate appellate level, rather than in the Supreme Court...

 and were the trigger for the 1986 Waitangi Tribunal

Waitangi Tribunal

The Waitangi Tribunal is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975...

 ruling that the government should introduce legislation making it an official language of New Zealand. He has written two books on Māori issues. He is most known, however, for performing an act of whakapohane

Whakapohane

Whakapohane is the Māori practice of baring one's buttocks with the intent to offend. It is as offensive in Māori as in Pākehā culture — symbolises the birthing act, and renders the recipient noa ....

(baring his buttocks, a traditional Māori insult) to Diana, Princess of Wales

Diana, Princess of Wales

Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...

 and Charles, Prince of Wales

Charles, Prince of Wales

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...

 in 1983. Some sources claim this was actually directed at the Queen herself, however, this is likely confused with a later incident in 1986 in which Mihaka was arrested for driving a van with an image of whakapohane in the vicinity of a royal motorcade; on that occasion, he was charged with dangerous driving

Dangerous driving

Dangerous driving is a statutory offence in England and Wales and Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is also a term of art used in the definition of the offence of causing death by dangerous driving...

.

In 2010 he was sentenced to 28 days in jail for contempt of court

Contempt of court

Contempt of court is a court order which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority...

 for calling a District Court

District Courts of New Zealand

The District Courts of New Zealand are low-level trial courts in New Zealand. The District Courts can hear civil claims up to $200,000 and criminal cases involving relatively minor offences...

 judge an arsehole in open court.

New Zealand electorate campaigns

He stood as an independent candidate for the Te Tai Tokerau

Te Tai Tokerau

Te Tai Tokerau is a New Zealand Parliamentary Māori electorate. Since 2005, it has been held by MP Hone Harawira. A by-election was held in this seat due to Harawira's resignation from Parliament...

 parliamentary seat in the 1999 election

New Zealand general election, 1999

The 1999 New Zealand general election was held on 27 November 1999 to determine the composition of the 46th New Zealand Parliament. The governing National Party, led by Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, was defeated, being replaced by a coalition of Helen Clark's Labour Party and the smaller Alliance...

, winning 1.03% of the vote. In 2004, he stood in the Te Tai Hauauru by-election, challenging the incumbent Tariana Turia

Tariana Turia

Tariana Turia is a New Zealand politician. She gained considerable prominence during the foreshore and seabed controversy, and eventually broke with her party as a result...

. Mihaka stood as the candidate for the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party

Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party

The Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party is a political party in New Zealand. It is dedicated to removing or reducing restrictions on the use of cannabis and similar substances...

, the only party other than Turia's Māori Party

Maori Party

The Māori Party, a political party in New Zealand, was formed on 7 July 2004. The Party is guided by eight constitutional "kaupapa", or Party objectives. Tariana Turia formed the Māori Party after resigning from the Labour Party where she had been a Cabinet Minister in the Fifth Labour-led...

 to contest the by-election. Mihaka claimed that the drugs issue was of greater importance to Māori than the foreshore and seabed controversy

New Zealand foreshore and seabed controversy

The New Zealand foreshore and seabed controversy is a debate in the politics of New Zealand. It concerns the ownership of the country's foreshore and seabed, with many Māori groups claiming that Māori have a rightful claim to title. These claims are based around historical possession and the Treaty...

, which Turia largely focused on. In the by-election, Mihaka placed a distant second, winning 2.52% of the vote compared to Turia's 92.74%. He did, however, place above the four independent candidates.