Aotearoa Games should be for all

Tu Tangata, Issue 26, 1 October 1985, Page 27

Aotearoa Games should be for all

A proposed Aotearoa Games concept based on tangatawhenuatanga, could see both Maori and pakeha participating in regional sports fixtures leading up to national Aotearoa Games in January 1988.

It's the idea of the NZ Maori Sports Federation and is a reponse to several years of lobbying to have Maori sports participation in the South Pacific. Games. These are held every two years amongst members countries of the South Pacific Forum.

Federation executive director. Dr Henare Broughton says the Aotearoa Games are for all who identify with belonging to Aotearoa. Eligibility for participation would be looked into by the various Maori sporting codes such as tennis, golf and basketball. At present eligibility varies from code to code with some sports accepting all Polynesians.

with others allowing marriage to a Maori as being sufficient for a person to participate.

Dr Broughton says the Federation delegation who travelled to the South Pacific Games in Rarotonga this August were able to gauge the feelings of the member nations. He says as well as acknowledged links with Tahitians and Rarotongans, Maori people are seen to be tangata whenua, people of Aotearoa.

Dr Broughton says this does pose identity problems for some europeans who see a threat to the waning power of colonial dominance in the moana-nui-a-Kiwa. “The Rarotongan's have this feeling for the tuakana/teina concept. The island people know about tangata whenua, the people of the land."

Dr Broughton says the Federation is disappointed that the South Pacific Games Council will not admit the NZ Maori Sports Federation and thus have Maori representation.

New Zealand and Australia are the two Pacific countries which play a low key role in participation because of their potential sporting dominance. However fears of divisiveness have also been voiced at the suggestion of Maori representation being more in tune with the Pacific people’s games.

Dr Broughton is hopeful that the Aotearoa Games will allow observer status on the Council for the Federation, as the Council would be the obvious link for Pacific representation at the Games.

He’s also keen to see canoe racing on the event list so that a true Pacific sport can be used to make the bonds between all people of the Pacific.

The Federation wants to hear from interested people about the proposed Aotearoa Games.

Write to NZ Maori Sports Federation, PO Box 4043, CPO. Auckland.