Cultural and Commercial Sensitivities
Which is more important to our national game?
Okay so, safe to say I didn’t expect to spend most of this week talking about haka. Not in the least because I am by no means an expert on the topic. What I have observed though throughout the week is just how racist our country is. Don’t believe me? Take a look at any of the replies I’ve got across social media this week. Just feral.
As I wrote in my column this week (paywalled soz) and spoke about on my Newstalk ZB interview (not paywalled, yay!), this was an inevitable conflict. Rugby has cashed right in on this cultural practice. Making the haka the soundtrack to promotions and the centrepiece of their display at the All Black Experience. They have cut it up and repackaged it as part of their brand, stripping it of all cultural context.
But the haka does not belong to rugby and it certainly is not something to be signed off on at the boardroom table. It’s a toanga (a gift) which is shared with an understanding that tikanga (customs) will be respected. So when the wāhine of the Hurricanes Poua chose to use this place of cultural expression to express themselves, they simply started a long overdue conversation.
An image I saw in a tweet from @sudibiff, taken at the Toitū te Tiriti (Honour the Treaty) protest in Christchurch
When trying to understand big things, sometimes it’s smaller things that help you digest it all. For me it was this homemade banner that kept reappearing in my mind. “You want my haka but you don’t want me” it read. This message at the time was aimed at our Government, just like the challenge that the Poua laid down. It’s now one that Rugby inc needs to answer. Do you want Māori or just their haka?
So far, I have been less than impressed at rugby response. The Hurricanes CEO, Avan Lee, appears to be well out of his depth. At best he is a deer in headlights, at worst he is painfully patronising. Not surprising when it’s the lack cultural competency from his organisation that led to an apology for this haka but not for the publicly racist comments of a then current Hurricanes Board member.
The news now is that New Zealand Rugby is also joining in the investigation into this haka. Just like the Governments choice to investigate whether we should re-write our foundational document, I believe that they are entering a conversation they are ill-prepared for. They don’t know what they don’t know and mate, are they about to find out.
The team themselves were united in their choice to lay down this challenge. One that was met by their opposition of the day and responded to in the Manawa’s own haka. Since then, all I have seen across past and current Aupiki players is their messages of support. If any punishment were to follow this investigation, you can only expect a further fracturing of the rugby community in response.
There is a whakataukī (proverb) that is most apt for this situation.
Me aro koe ki te hā o Hine-ahu-one
Pay heed to the dignity of women
That is my advice for the rugby boardrooms to hold onto as they consider their next steps. Or they may find themselves further offside with all of us.
With you,
Alice