John MacDonald: The haka is more than just pre-match entertainment

Anyone who thinks we can still stick to that pipedream of sport and politics not mixing probably got a hernia or had kittens yesterday morning before and after the All Blacks match against Italy. 

The game itself wasn’t too flash. I think the general consensus is that it was lacklustre. Or the All Blacks were, anyway.

So people not too excited about the actual game. A different story, though, with the players taking the opportunity to show their backing for last week’s treaty principles hīkoi during the pre-match haka. 

And then, after the match, there were players waving the tino rangatiratanga Māori Sovereignty flag on the field.

I’ve got no problem at all with what happened during the haka. But I’m not a hundred percent sure how I feel about the flag stuff. Reason being, that the All Blacks are a national team and using a different flag - other than the official flag - just doesn’t sit right with me.

It’s not that I’m anti-tino rangatiratanga flag. I just don’t think it was appropriate for the All Blacks to use. But, as far as using the haka to make a political point, I’m all good with that.  

Translating what TJ Perenera said leading the haka, he said: “The sovereignty of the land remains, the sovereignty of the people remains, the Treaty of Waitangi remains". 

TJ’s explanation is that it was about expressing unity. And that’s how coach Scott Robertson described it too when he was asked about it after the game.

Razor said it was discussed beforehand and the unity thing was what it was all about. But there are two ways you can define unity. One definition - in terms of what happened yesterday during the haka - is this idea that the Treaty of Waitangi actually unites us all.

The other definition of unity, is that this could be seen as the All Blacks standing in unity with the 42,000 people who were in the hikoi that turned-up at Parliament last week.

Either way, I think the days of trying to keep politics out of sport are over. 

I’m good with TJ and the All Blacks doing what they did. Just like I was good with the Hurricanes women's team earlier this year having a go at the Government during their haka.

And here’s why: 

For me, we’re dreaming if we think we can cherry pick from Māori culture. We seem to be perfectly happy for the haka to be part of the All Blacks machine but some of us want our inclusion of Māori culture to stop right there.

As long as we can use that Māori culture to entertain the crowds, that’s fine. But, for some, it’s a different story if the people whose culture we are happy to milk are getting a bit toey about things.

What I’m getting at, is that we can’t just pick and choose which bits of Māori culture we want to put on show and which bits we don’t.

We can’t just have the show and no tell. And what TJ Perenara and the All Blacks delivered yesterday in Italy was the show and the tell. They showed our Māori culture to the world - as they always have - but they also told the world that it’s not just about the razzamatazz.

They told the world that there’s some stuff going on back home that people aren’t happy about. Particularly the people back home whose culture is on show every time the All Blacks take to the field.

And what’s wrong with that? Absolutely nothing, as far as I’m concerned.

If we have a problem with what happened yesterday, then the All Blacks may as well ditch the haka altogether.

Because I think it is hugely disrespectful if we think Māori culture is only good for entertaining the crowds. Or selling a product. We might have got away with it in the past. But we’re fools if we think we can get away with it now.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Morning's Podcast with John McDonald
from News Talk ZB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Anyone who thinks we can still stick to that pipe
dream of sport and politics not mixing probably got a
hernia or had kittens or something like that yesterday morning,
before and after the All Blacks match against Italy. Maybe
they didn't even see the match but heard about it

(00:33):
and still had kittens, still got a hernia. Game itself
wasn't too flash. I think the general consensus is that
it was a lackluster or the All Blacks were anyway,
so people not too excited about the actual game. Different
story though, different story with the players taking the opportunity
to show their backing for last week's treaty Principals ecoy

(00:55):
during the pre match harker and then after the matches.
If that wasn't enough, after the match, there were players
waiving the ten throwing a ted A tar A flag
apologies for pronunciation the Imori sovereignty flag on the field.
Just so you know where I stand on this, I've

(01:16):
got no problem with all with what happened during the harker.
I'm not one hundred percent sure though, how I feel
about the flag stuff, reason being that the All Blacks
are a national team and using a different flag other
than the official flag just doesn't sit right with me.
I'm not anti the sovereignty flag. I just don't think
it was appropriate for the All Blacks to use. But
as far as using the Harker to make a political point,

(01:39):
I'm all good with that. All good with it. I'll
tell you why in a second. Translating what TJ. Pernada
said leading the Harker, he said, quote, the sovereignty of
the land remains, the sovereignty of the people remains. The
Treaty of White Honey remains. Now. TJ's explanation is that
it was about expressing unity, and that's how coach Scott

(02:04):
Robertson described a term. When he was asked about it
after the game. Raiser said, Oh, we talked about it.
We talked about it. Yep, yep. He came to us
and we talked about it. And Raiser said, the unity
thing was what it was all about. But there are
two ways you can define unity. A one definition in
terms of what happened yesterday during the Harker, is this

(02:24):
idea that the Treaty of Why Toney actually unites us all.
The other definition of unity is that this could be
seen as the All Blacks standing in unity or in
unison with the forty two thousand people who were in
the Hicky that turned up at Parliament last week. Now
I don't know this for a fact, but I suspect
that Raiser had one version of unity in his head

(02:44):
and TJ had a different one. But that's just me
speculating either way. I think the days of trying to
keep politics out of sport they're over. And tell you what,
I'm good with that. I'm good with TJ and the
All Blacks doing what they did, just like I was
good with the Hurricanes women's team early this year having
a go at the government during their harker. Remember that.

(03:05):
And here's why for me, we are dreaming if we
think we can cherry pick from Maori culture. Now, what
I'm getting at there is that we seem to be
perfectly happy for the Harker to be part of the
All Blacks machine, the marketing machine and the pre match machine,
all of that. But some of us seem to want
our inclusion of Maori culture to stop right there, you know,

(03:28):
as long as we can use as long as we
can use the Mari culture to entertain the crowds, that's fine.
But for some it's a different story. If that culture
that we're all over when the going is good, it's
a different story. Though. If the people whose culture we
are happy to milk are getting a bit tell me
about things, and I get back in your place. What

(03:51):
I'm getting at is that we can't just pick and
choose which bits of Maori culture we want to put
on show and which bits we don't. We can't just
have the show and no tell. And what TJ. Perdinado
in The All Blacks delivered yesterday in Italy and the
Harker All with the Harker was the show and the tell.

(04:12):
They showed our Maori culture to the world, as they
always do, but they also told the world that it's
not just about the Razmataz. They told the world that
there's some stuff going on back home that people aren't
happy about, particularly the people back home whose culture is
on show every time we take to the pitch. And

(04:32):
what's wrong with that? Absolutely nothing as far as I'm concerned.
You know, if we have a problem with what happened yesterday,
then the All Blacks they might as well ditch the
Harker altogether, because I think it would be hugely disrespectful
if we think Maori culture is only good for entertaining
the crowds, only good for selling a product. You know,

(04:55):
we might have got away with that in the past,
but we are fools if we think we can get
away with it now.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
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