Police arrested a number of people following a coordinated protest at the Wellington waterfront museum on Monday.
The target was the museum's displays explaining the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand's foundational document.
One man abseiled inside the building, using an angle grinder and spray paint to damage the display.
Others held signs saying "tell the truth" in both English and te reo, the Maori language, while another used a megaphone to critique the display.
"It says that Maori ceded sovereignty to the Crown. That is a lie," the man said.
"We are here to tell Te Papa to tell the truth ... you're not just here to display these two documents, you need to be adding context, you need to be helping people to understand."
An angle grinder and spray paint were used to damage a display at Te Papa. (HANDOUT/POSITIVELY WELLINGTON TOURISM)
The Te Papa protest - carried out by the Te Waka Hourua group (meaning the double canoe) - follows a "National Maori Action Day" last week.
Those protests, organised by the Maori Party, saw thousands march around the country against the new government.
Many Maori are fearful of measures agreed by the new government which would strip away the Treaty of Waitangi from the centre of New Zealand's constitutional arrangements.
The Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 between Maori and the British Crown as the basis for co-existence between the Indigenous and colonising populations.
However, translation issues between the English and te reo versions created disagreements which continue to this day, including whether sovereignty was ceded by Maori.
Prime Minister Chris Luxon said he didn't think the Te Papa attack was linked to his government's new approach to the treaty.
"I'm incredibly proud of the Treaty of Waitangi," he said.
"Of course, over the last 180 years, we've been wrestling with it, to understand what was meant, who signed it, why they signed it and what the intention is behind that.
"We've all been wrestling with that, and that's been something really positive and it's made us much more tolerant and a much better country."
New Zealand's October election led to a three-party coalition of the centre-right National party, free-market libertarians ACT and populists New Zealand First.
All three campaigned for a rollback of Maori governance of public entities introduced by the Labour-led government.
Coalition deals signed between the parties include pledges around "treaty principles" as defined by the Waitangi Tribunal.
The National-NZ First deal is to strip laws of references to treaty principles, while the National and ACT agreement is to introduce a bill seeking to redefine them.
ACT and NZ First argue the reform will bring New Zealand in line with liberal democratic values.
Politicians from the left say the proposals will bring a level of unrest not previously seen in New Zealand, with senior Labour Maori politician Willie Jackson saying last month it would rival the infamous 1981 apartheid-era Springbok tours.
Those protests are likely to manifest over summer, including on Waitangi Day, February 6, when Mr Luxon is expected to visit the grounds where the treaty was signed.
Te Papa spokeswoman Kate Camp said while a wooden display panel was damaged in Monday's vandalism, museum collection items were not.
"We respect the right of people to express their views and to protest but we are disappointed that the group has damaged this museum display," she said.
"The exhibition has evolved over time, and it will continue to."
