ALTERNATIVE An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples

VOLUME 6, NUMBER 3, 2010

CONTENTS

Mana tamariki: Cultural alienation 187 Rawiri Taonui

Identity, prejudice and healing in Aboriginal circles: Models of identity, embodiment and ecology of place as traditional medicine for education and counselling 203 Kisiku Sa’qawei Paq’tism Randolph Bowers

Colonial sovereignties and the self-colonizing conundrum 222 Fiona McAllan

Mäori sport and Mäori in sport 235 Tim McCreanor, Jenny Rankine, Angela Moewaka Barnes, Belinda Borell, Ray Nairn, Mandi Gregory and Hector Kaiwai

Indexing (in)authenticity 248 Carine Ayélé Durand

Time and eldership in Torrobo world view 261 Shelley Ashdown

“I’m the son of the Oliero” 272 Jaroslaw Derlicki

Book review 283 Reviewed by Shannon Speed

Book review 285 Reviewed by Samantha Fox MÄORI SPORT AND MÄORI IN SPORT

Mass media representations and Päkehä discourse

Tim McCreanor* Jenny Rankine Angela Moewaka Barnes Belinda Borell Ray Nairn Mandi Gregory Hector Kaiwai

Abstract

Mäori players, coaches, administrators and audiences contribute to a wide range of sporting codes at all levels in Aotearoa/New Zealand and internationally. However, Päkehä media coverage, a representative sample of which we analysed in this project, presents Mäori participation and achievement as limited and aberrant. This paper reports our analysis of New Zealand newspapers’ sports coverage in which Mäori were represented. A database of 50 articles was created from 120 newspapers. This was examined using thematic and discursive methods to explore the nature of two overarching themes within sports stories. “Mäori sport” depicted Mäori as exotic and marginal to sporting life in Aotearoa/New Zealand, while “Mäori in sport” articles subsumed Mäori within monocultural sporting codes. The implications of these fi ndings are discussed in the context of a theoretical framework of Mäori self-determination and decolonization.

*Whariki Research Group, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand Email: [email protected] 236 T. MCCREANOR ET AL.

Introduction the nature of existing coverage, and highlight persistent inequitable framings. For more than 50 years many researchers have Sport is a central element of cultural identity examined mass media coverage of Mäori and in physical, economic and social life in Aotearoa/ Mäori issues (Abel, 1997; Hodgetts, Masters, & New Zealand (Bruce, Falcous, & Thorpe, 2007; Robertson, 2004; McCreanor, 1993; McGregor Edwards, 2007). Players, coaches, supporters & Comrie, 1995; Phelan, 2006; Spoonley & in schools, clubs and associations—at local, Hirsh, 1990; Thompson, 1953, 1954; Walker, national and international levels—generate a 1990). Mäori are widely understood to be wide range of activities that have created niches under-represented, negatively depicted, and for commerce, professions, scholarship and pol- less likely to fi nd stories that affi rm themselves icy-making. Edwards (2007) argues that sport or their communities. Our own pilot studies also provides validation and acknowledgement (Moewaka Barnes et al., 2005; Rankine et al., of personal identity for diverse individuals, 2008) have begun to consolidate these under- groups, players, supporters and followers of standings through analysis of content, theme and codes and competitions. discourse in media samples, which informs our Sports activity is represented as quintes- current project, Media, Health and Wellbeing in sentially meritocratic; selecting and rewarding Aotearoa. The research is grounded in the litera- physical and psychological skill, strength and tures of decolonization and self-determination fi tness on the basis of performance and success. (Huygens, 2006; Maaka & Fleras, 2000; Said, However, despite having bequeathed to poli- 1978; Smith, 2006; Smith, 1999), which chal- tics a metaphor of egalitarianism—the “level lenge established colonial states and argue for playing-fi eld”—sport is an intrinsically politi- the sovereignty and self-determination of indig- cal domain in which inclusion and reward are enous peoples. The research is set within a public infl uenced by socio-economic status, ethnicity health framework that theorizes mass media and gender. representations of Mäori and Mäori issues as a Like most sectors of the political economy, social determinant of Mäori health and wellbeing sport is a key focus for information and commu- (Nairn, Pega, McCreanor, Rankine, & Barnes, nications, as results, coverage and developments 2006). As such, it adopts critical approaches to are reported, analysed, debated and celebrated mass media performance around ethnicity (Hall, for wide public consumption (Chamberlain & Critcher, Jefferson, Clarke, & Roberts, 1978; Hodgetts, 2008). Media practices of selecting, Henry & Tator, 2002; Jakubowicz et al., 1994; framing and producing sports news and cover- Rankine & McCreanor, 2004; Spurr, 1993; Van age add a further, complex layer to the social Dijk, 1991) which regard Päkehä media as a representation and understanding of sport. As colonial institution with vested interest in main- Bruce, Falcous and Thorpe (2007, p. 147) note: taining the status quo of New Zealand society. “The relationship between sport and the media The project gathered a representative is highly signifi cant in how we understand the national sample of print, radio and television place and meaning of sport in New Zealand life.” news items, between November 2007 and April The deregulation of broadcast media in the 2008, as data for investigations that combine 1990s and the professionalization of key codes content analysis with a discursive approach. In has seen sports fi xtures, practices and timetables this paper we focus particularly on a discursive increasingly dictated and controlled by transna- analysis of print media items on sport, and tional media corporations such as Sky TV, and provide quantitative data on frequency, range, the abolition of live, free coverage of nationally and categories of items for the study of form, valued sports (Jackson & Hokowhitu, 2002). character and meanings. The aim is to explore Along with a weakening of “public good” MÄORI SPORT AND MÄORI IN SPORT 237 accountability in contemporary journalism history, emerged in the grand colonizing era practice (see PEW Foundation, 2005; Scammell of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries” & Semetko, 2000) and the aggregation of (Hokowhitu, 2003, p. 194). media outlets, journalistic professionalism has Evidence of the influence of this kind of become increasingly vulnerable to commercial, thinking in media representations of Mäori institutional and ideological editorial control and sport is provided by the pioneering studies (Rankine et al., 2008; Rosenberg, 2008). of Thompson (1954). His analysis describes a The launch of Mäori Television in 2004 theme in which Mäori are depicted as “natu- has made available daily programming about rally” athletic, as in this example: Mäori, including sport, from a Mäori view- point. Mäori viewers perceive this as valuable The Mäori is seldom a taught Rugby player. in showing Mäori diversity (Poihipi, 2007), pro- Usually his ability is instinctive, and the dis- moting te reo Mäori (the Mäori language) and cipline of coaching sits heavily upon him. tikanga (customs, traditions) (Stuart, 2003), This is why his game is so brilliant, and why and in utilizing more cooperative news val- it has a few weaknesses. Few Mäori players ues (Rankine et al., 2008). Unfortunately, the are complete footballers in that their defence broadcast range of Mäori Television remains is as strong as their attack. (The Star Sports, limited and so access and exposure to these May 6, 1950, cited in Thompson, 1954) alternative framings is less than it could be. Given the manifest importance of sport in Hokowhitu (2003; 2007) has argued that colo- society, in the context of ongoing colonial domi- nial discourse about the “physicality” of Mäori nation of Aotearoa/New Zealand (Nairn et al., (men in particular) has helped exclude them from 2006; Reid & Cram, 2005) the place of Mäori intellectual occupations in favour of labouring in relation to sport and sports coverage is a work, including sport. The curricula in native matter of concern and debate (Falcous & West, schools (Simon & Smith, 2001), public schools, 2009; Hokowhitu, 2003; Palmer, 2006, 2009). and even in specialist tertiary physical educa- There is a growing body of analysis and cri- tion training, has achieved what Hokowhitu tique of conventional representations of sport (2003, p. 200) refers to as the “physical edu- from the perspective of self-determination and cation of Mäori”. The forced mind/body split decolonization, particularly around the involve- has undoubtedly contributed to a gap between ment of Mäori and Pacifi c rugby union players integrated philosophical frameworks such as at the national level (Hokowhitu, 2003, 2007; kaupapa Mäori (Mäori ideology) (Smith, 1997) Hokowhitu & Scherer, 2008; Hope, 2002; or Whare Tapa Wha (unifi ed theory of health) Palmer, 2009; Ryan, 2007). Conventional dis- (Durie, 1994) and Mäori practices, including course is set fi rmly in a colonial understanding those surrounding sport and physical activity. of the physical, animalistic or even superhu- These outcomes are shared (with regional vari- man characteristics attributed to Mäori people ations) by indigenous people in other colonial (Ballara, 1986; Belich, 1986; Hokowhitu, 2008; settings such as Australia (Hartley & McKee, McCreanor, 1997; Salmond, 1997). Colonial 2000) and Canada (Paraschak & Tirone, 2008), ideologies cast Mäori many links down the as well as by other minority groups in Aotearoa/ “great chain of being”, with the English rul- New Zealand (Loto et al., 2006). ing class superior. The physical abilities of However, Hokowhitu (2005, p. 90) also Mäori were highlighted to obscure or deny argues that the innovation and leadership roles their higher capacities. This served a useful of Mäori players in the developing and interna- purpose: “A physical/intellectual dichotomy, tionalization of rugby have been subsumed into that would limit Mäori throughout colonial mainstream discourse about the game: 238 T. MCCREANOR ET AL.

[E]arly Mäori rugby stood for tino rangati- to make 3 “constructed weeks”. This regime is ratanga [self-determination], mana [prestige] somewhat in advance of the “gold standard” of 2 and Mäori nationalism, but its entrench- constructed weeks recommended for representa- ment within New Zealand rugby’s dominant tive samples of media performance (Lacy, Riffe, discourse meant the respect given to Mäori Stoddard, Martin, & Chang, 2001). masculinity through rugby was only for a Print data was collected by a professional hybrid-masculinity of the dominant group. clipping service working to a set of 15 key- words or phrases, including “Mäori”, “iwi” Palmer (2009), in a recent presentation on tino (tribe), “hapü” (sub-tribe), “whänau” (family), rangatiratanga in sport, highlighted the disjunc- “Treaty of Waitangi” and “Mäori–Päkehä ture between the relatively high proportion of relations”. Photocopies were provided of each Mäori players to Mäori coaches and adminis- origin al story, with headlines, photographs, trators. Mulholland (2009), in his book on the page numbers and a graphic of its placement history of Mäori in rugby, draws attention to on the page. The items were gathered from the politics of the game which led to challenges every New Zealand daily, bi-weekly and weekly to Päkehä administration of the New Zealand newspaper (120 titles), resulting in a raw data Rugby Football Union (NZRFU) and other set of 1,621 items. A selection process identifi ed parties over historical discrimination against the stories with a signifi cant focus on Mäori Mäori players, and which resulted in redress. issues, and excluded those where Mäori interest These commentaries have begun to show was incidental. The corpus was read separately how media coverage of sport contributes to by two of the project researchers, who made a maintaining the boundaries and dimensions of fi rst cut of inclusions, exclusions and debateable national identity (Bruce et al., 2007; Jackson & items before the selection was discussed and Hokowhitu, 2002). Falcous and West (2009) fi nalized. The final database comprised a total found that print media coverage of the 2005 of 858 print media items. Lions’ Tour framed it as a “national unify- Items were then categorized by 15 broad top- ing event” (p. 161). Their analysis of the NZ ics, including business, crime, education, Treaty Mäori versus Lions game demonstrates the of Waitangi and sport. All items were converted press’s mystifi cation and marginalization of to Word documents and imported into the Mäori rugby and support of Päkehä control Nivo8 software program for qualitative analy- and domination of the national game. sis. Thematic (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Patton, 1990; Wetherell, Taylor, & Yates, 2001) and discursive (Potter & Wetherell, 1987; Wetherell Method & Potter, 1992) analyses were then applied to each of the items within every topic to describe For this 3-year project, we collected a large repre- broad patterns and some detailed deconstruc- sentative sample of news items relating to Mäori tions of media discourse about Mäori. While and Mäori–Päkehä relations in print, radio and some issues such as the Treaty of Waitangi television in the 6 months between November were found under multiple topic headings, the 2007 and April 2008.1 A random selection was 50 items in the sport category were distinct and taken from 3 of each of the days of the week not coded under any other topic. The current paper is a report on the qualita-

1 This period was selected to fi t the time frame of tive analysis of items in the sport category. We the project. It may not represent optimal timing for will begin by providing some basic quantitative studying representations of sport, given the seasons information to contextualize our thematic and of major codes; however, we were interested in all news coverage and not just that of sport. discursive fi ndings. MÄORI SPORT AND MÄORI IN SPORT 239

TABLE 1 Sports story coding, total sample grounds the analysis that follows by giving us (n=50) some understanding of the frequency and form Code No. Code No. such reporting takes. Basketball 1 Rowing 2 Two broad divisions are evident in these Boxing 1 Rugby union 21 items, with almost an equal number of stories in Fame 3 Rugby league 4 each division. The fi rst includes items that deal Fishing 1 Table tennis 2 with the business, competitions and outcomes Golf 4 Tennis 2 of Mäori sports bodies and codes, including Life saving 1 Touch 3 rugby, golf, table tennis, tennis, touch rugby and Multi-sport 3 Waka ama 2 waka ama (outrigger canoe racing). The second consists of stories that feature players, adminis- TABLE 2 Proportion of Mäori sport stories to trators and other participants who are identifi ed sport stories overall, sample and as Mäori. The major category of rugby items is total for the New Zealand Herald and also evenly divided. There is also a strong gender Dominion Post bias, with only two stories predominantly about New Zealand Herald Dominion Post women, 30 about men, and 18 mixed, mostly Mäori stories Sport Mäori stories Sport where competition is segregated. sample stories sample stories 3 548 0 466

Qualitative analysis Findings The qualitative analysis uses a broad thematic Table 1 shows the distribution of the 50 sports approach and a more fi ne-grained discursive stories from a total of 120 papers over the vari- examination of Mäori representation in these ous codes. news stories. While the items included a reasonable range of sport, the sample is dominated by rugby Thematic analysis union. The sample shows that 30 papers (one- quarter of all newspapers) ran Mäori sports We began with some broad observations of stories on any of the 21 collection days. Since the ways Mäori identity is handled in the data. we did not count the total number of sports There are several strands in the stories about stories in the newspapers, we chose the New Mäori participation in sport, the most common Zealand Herald and the Dominion Post—large being that a player has arrived at a notewor- circulation dailies owned by rival companies— thy level through the training and discipline to count the total number of sports stories for provided by the Mäori stream within the code. our collection days. For example, a Cambridge Edition story about Table 2 shows the frequency of Mäori sport the Gilmartin-Kara sisters describes how the stories compared to sport stories overall. two young women have excelled in junior The proportion of Mäori sport stories to regional Mäori netball and have been selected the total number of sports stories carried by to play in national youth teams. Other examples the New Zealand Herald and the Dominion include a Piako Post item on rugby players who Post shows that coverage is minimal.2 This data have made it into Super 14 teams via national Mäori representative sides—and there are many 2 The hand count also showed some stories about variations of such journeys. Mäori sportspeople did not include any of our Some identifi cations are almost incidental, keywords. This indicates that we may have slightly undercounted the number of sports stories. as in the Gisborne Herald item about boxer 240 T. MCCREANOR ET AL.

Shane Cameron who, but for the fact that an Herald Colin Hovell speaks about his promo- upcoming bout was to be covered by Mäori tion to captain of the Türanganui-a-Kiwa side, Television, would not have registered in the and marks the importance of Mäori identity keyword search. While his professional name, and the Mäori game to his progress. On the Mountain Warrior, is perhaps suggestive, his other hand, half of rugby coverage is given to website gives his ancestry as Rongomaiwahine/ Mäori participation in mainstream rugby. For Scottish (Mountain Warrior Ltd, 2010). And example, a Wairarapa Times-Age story about the New Zealand Herald identified success- Zac Gildford’s selection for the Hurricanes’ ful rower, Storm Uru, as Ngäi Tahu, but they starting line-up notes his emergence from the did not elaborate on the signifi cance of this ranks of Mäori rugby. connection. We turn now to look more closely at each In the “Mäori in sport” category of news of the streams of Mäori representation in the stories, Mäori identity is evoked to varying “Mäori sport” category. degrees, but is incidental. With a few excep- Stories in the “Mäori sport” category carry tions (such as the story about Pat Walsh, a strong subtext of exclusivity, since by defi ni- detailed below), Mäori identity is commonly tion the activities are either defi ned as Mäori (as unaccounted for. The effect is to submerge the in waka ama) or controlled and dominated by Mäori identity of players and contributions Mäori. In the mass media they are represented into local, regional or national discourses of as available to Mäori only, irrespective of other identity. This is entirely consistent with the One qualifying criteria. The likely interpretation People discourse (Nairn & McCreanor, 1991; of a Päkehä audience is that Mäori are either Wetherell & Potter, 1992), which asserts that prejudiced against other cultures or ethnicities, as a unifi ed nation we should all have equal or are unable or unwilling to compete in an opportunities. open fi eld. These framings relate to the widely We then looked at “Mäori sport”, a category available resources which tell the standard story made up of news items about codes and com- of Mäori–Päkehä relations, and specifi cally the petitions run by Mäori, sometimes affi liated to discourses of “privilege” and “Mäori culture” national bodies, but sometimes standing alone (McCreanor, 2005, 2008). or relating to marae (meeting house) or iwi The “privilege” theme portrays Mäori as groups. Examples of this group are the Tainui having rights or benefi ts denied others on the Golf tournament, reported in the Hauraki basis of ethnicity in ways that are unfair and Herald, the national Mäori table-tennis tourna- racist; for example, they may have special access ment, recounted in the Western Leader, and the to funding, or support for projects that do not Te Arawa waka ama competitions, described deserve it. In addition, Mäori are said to have in the Rotorua Review. One Mäori rugby item been reimbursed generously in Treaty settle- in the Timaru Herald highlights Mäori rugby ments, with enough resources for their needs, so as a distinct but integrated part of the NZRFU, continued reliance on state funds is greedy and while other stories in the same paper and in the unreasonable. Examples include any form of Bay of Plenty Times provide match reports and targeted relief or support, including affi rmative outcomes for actual games in the Mäori repre- action in education and employment, Te Puni sentative provincial and national competitions. Kökiri (Ministry of Mäori Development), par- Identification as Mäori is a curiosity in liamentary seats, Treaty settlements, housing media representations. In most instances, Mäori loans and Mäori sports teams. This com- appear to create and maintain their own codes ment made in a New Zealand Herald story and competitions. Player choice also appears of February 22, 2004, is illustrative: “A lot in some items, for example, in the Gisborne of benefi ts are specifi cally focused on Maori, MÄORI SPORT AND MÄORI IN SPORT 241 such as education grants, loans and the Maori metaphor and the values it espouses are useful All Blacks. If you had a Pakeha All Black team and necessary falsehoods of white privilege in people would be hitting the roof.” the face of a raft of disparities between Mäori Hokowhitu and Scherer (2008, p. 244) cite and Päkehä—in wealth, health, education and a similar example, from the Daily News of other social goods. Mäori sportspeople must September 6, 1999: overcome many barriers and discriminations before they can experience anything like equal The Maori All Blacks is [sic] wrong. If you are opportunity (Ryan, 2007), so their achieve- not good enough to get into the All Blacks, ments are even more noteworthy. then you shouldn’t be able to go into a team At this broad thematic level, sports cov- that excludes white. That is racism. But it’s erage of Mäori lies uncomfortably between acceptable if you are a Maori. representation as privilege on the one hand, and enactment of assimilation on the other. In our analysis, the “privilege” discourse is No contextual or historical information was evoked by the exclusivity of “Mäori sport” provided to inform readers about the reasons and the apparent absence of a clear rationale for a Tainui golf championship or a national for its existence. Mäori tennis competition. Without such back- The “Mäori culture” theme describes Mäori ground, the coverage is aberrant or irrelevant. social organization and praxis as primitive, It is not that these back-stories do not exist; superstitious, mysterious, lacking in conceptual Hokowhitu (2004) has pointed out the growing and practical knowledge, and dependent on a appreciation of Mäori in the development of limited language (Nairn & McCreanor, 1991). rugby into a national game. But such material It is seen as clearly inferior, ineffi cient, sexist, fl ies well under the radar of conventional media ossifi ed, of no intrinsic value, and unable to coverage. The absence of explicit rationale for compete in the modern world. As one letter phenomena such as the Mäori All Blacks leaves to the New Zealand Herald put it: “Maori a rhetorical void that is readily fi lled by the are descended from stone-age barbaric savage standard anti-Mäori story. cannibals who owe all the benefi ts of modern life and civilization to European colonists” Discursive analysis (September 7, 2000). On the other hand, that Päkehä use or appro- In this section we introduce selected texts as priate decontextualized elements of Mäori data for a fi ne-grained, discursive examination culture (such as the haka, or ceremonial dance) that allows us to unpack the journalist’s art and to mark their own identity is seen as legitimate understand the subtle ways in which meaning is and appropriate. In our analysis the inferiority constructed for “Mäori sport” and “Mäori in of Mäori culture is refl ected in the existence of sport”. This enables us to distinguish the extent closed competitions, which allow Mäori sport- to which the shaping of meaning is the work of ing achievement to be belittled as occurring the journalist or of their sources. in a “small pond”. The assimilation of Mäori What is striking about rugby stories cat- talent and expertise into national and other egorized as “Mäori sport” is that discursively, representative sides is seen as unproblematic. despite their inclusion in mass-circulation Within such discourses, Mäori codes can papers, they are likely to appear as distinct be seen as an affront to entrenched ideolo- and exotic to Päkehä audiences. The names of gies about egalitarianism (everyone gets a fair players, teams, competitions, trophies, venues go), especially neo-liberal discourse centred on and regions are often Mäori and frequently the metaphor of the “level playing-fi eld”. The unfamiliar. There is a very real sense that, for 242 T. MCCREANOR ET AL.

a Päkehä audience, these stories could as well the characteristics evident in the “Mäori rugby” be about rugby in Samoa or South Australia as category (for example, use of the phrase “Mäori in Aotearoa/New Zealand. All Blacks” and a trophy honouring a Mäori In these rugby items, journalists routinely individual), these are relatively rare and Mäori name games and events as “Mäori rugby”. In elements are always a passing mention rather the Bay of Plenty Times, for example, a “Mäori than a focus. The details of these items seem Rugby” subheading seems to indicate a spe- unremarkable, with no discernable denigration cialist reporter’s round. It also commonly uses of Mäori players or organizations evident under Mäori names for regional representative teams discursive analysis. Stories are constructed from (often without English equivalents), such as within a sports reporting genre in the familiar Horouta, Aoraki, Türanganui-a-Kiwa, Te Raki language and imagery of contest, hierarchy, Paewhenua and Te Wai Pounamu. Items cover achievement and failure. match reports, tournament outcomes, selection Here is an extended example of this kind of choices, and player and administrator person- coverage, from the Otago Daily Times: alities. Mention of practices such as pöwhiri (welcome ceremonies) at the start of tourna- Meanwhile, Bruce (24) has confi rmed he will ments, the acknowledgement of a sub-union be staying in Hamilton after being let go by kaumatua (elder) in Timaru Herald items, and the Highlanders and picked up in the draft the inclusion of women’s competitions indicate by the Chiefs. a distinctive protocol and culture. He had a clause in his Otago Rugby Phrases such as “Tim Windleborn (who Football Union contract that enabled him to whakapapa[s] back to Hokianga)” in a exit his two-year deal a year early because he Northland Age Guardian story provide mark- was not selected in the Highlanders. ers of Mäori context. These rugby stories give It does not represent particularly good a sense of an entire, self-contained sport that is business by Otago, which invested in Bruce, referred to by Mäori sources as a “revival” and threw him into top rugby when he was not “gaining in popularity”. While some speakers really ready and has now lost him just as he provide these contextualizing features, they started to show signs of developing into a are mostly the work of journalists, and are not good player. evident in Mäori rugby or in general rugby Bruce made his Otago debut in 2005 and coverage. has played for the Highlanders as a fi rst or sec- These features mark Mäori rugby as some- ond fi ve-eight in each of the last two seasons. thing exclusive, apart and exotic, and as such He was also a New Zealand Mäori representa- are highly congruent with the “privilege” theme, tive. (Meikle, 2008) which denigrates and marginalizes such activ- ity as racist and inimical to national unity and The text deals with the mundane operational identity. Ultimately, to Päkehä readers such detail of the professional rugby business, with items may act as a kind of rhetorical question its comments on organization, contracting (“Why is there a Mäori code here?”), to which and commercial competence. The player, his the most available answers are discriminatory position, track record and potential are all and marginalize Mäori and the Mäori game mentioned before the comment that bears on his (“Mäori are racist and exclude others”; “Mäori ethnicity. The order contributes to the relative can’t compete in a wider context”). insignifi cance of this information and there is a The stories about rugby in the “Mäori in lingering sense that it is of little future relevance sport” category present quite a different perspec- now that he has made his “debut” into the tive. While stories in this category have some of upper echelons of the mainstream game. MÄORI SPORT AND MÄORI IN SPORT 243

Here is another example, from the Northern and superb balance anywhere in the back- Advocate: line and spiced these assets with the mischief (and sometimes the mystery) that only Mäori The return of blockbusting No. 8 Jake seemed to possess in those days of uninhibited Paringatai, the appearance of New Zealand rugby. (November 25, 2007, p. 67) Sevens star Rene Ranger and the arrival of new Northland rugby signing James Rodley To our reading, the fi rst sentence exemplifi es will add some sting to the Joe Morgan the “small pond” or “tributary” trope; the memorial club rugby championship this “totara” of Mäori rugby is only a “charac- weekend. ter” in the national game. The fi nal sentence Paringatai is fresh back from a short stint evokes the feral characteristics which have with Irish club Munster and is likely to turn long been attributed to Mäori by Päkehä. The out for Marist when they head to Kamo on notion of Walsh as a “natural”, with its evo- Saturday. cation of the untamed exotic, combines with Rodley will make his Northland club debut the player’s physical attributes and the inex- for Mid Western when they head into town plicable to epitomize the Mäori contribution to meet Hora Hora at Hora Hora. to the game and reinforce the sense of “other- . . . Rodley is likely to go head-to-head ness” and difference. This implicitly contrasts with Corey Tamou to try and secure a starting with the conventional “hard man” attributes spot in the Northland squad this year, a tussle of high-level players, whose strength, rugged that will be intriguing as both have played for determination and competitiveness map con- the New Zealand Mäori team. (Eves, 2008) ventional notions of settler masculinity, and are seen as the backbone of rugby in Aotearoa/ The language is florid, with terms such as New Zealand. “blockbusting”, “sting” and “tussle” express- We argue, then, that there are discursive ing the physicality of the game. However, it is features that distinguish these two categories very much within the style of sports journalism. of stories, contributing to their semantic load Readers are left to infer Mäori identity by way and the likely interpretations and meanings that of Paringatai’s name until the very end of the will be taken from them. There is an extent to passage, when it is made explicit. which, despite the very banality of such sports The exception here is a cluster of stories writing, it reinforces the broader negative ideo- marking the passing of Pat Walsh. These are logical treatment of Mäori engagement in New interesting because, while they honour a revered Zealand sporting activity. player, they also contribute to the construction of Mäori rugby as a tributary to the national game, and to the stereotype of Mäori rugby Discussion abilities. For example, a Herald on Sunday story includes the following: Our analysis shows that in the supposedly apolitical domain of sporting competition and One of the legendary characters of New activity, Mäori are represented in only a small Zealand rugby—and certainly among the proportion of newspaper stories. The coverage mightiest totara[s] of the Mäori game—Pat there is of Mäori participation and contribu- Walsh died on Friday evening . . . tion in this domain is divided between what we From his days at Sacred Heart College have characterized as “Mäori in sport” stories, and then at Ardmore teachers training col- where Mäori are effectively assimilated into lege, Walsh was a natural. He had speed, skill Päkehä codes and competitions, and “Mäori 244 T. MCCREANOR ET AL.

sport” items, in which Mäori-controlled and The stylistic features described above work Mäori-oriented activities are presented in a to represent Mäori activity around sport in sub- context of Mäori “privilege” (Borell, Gregory, tle and mundane ways as deviant and aberrant, McCreanor, Jensen, & Moewaka Barnes, 2009; routinely reinforcing fundamentally monocul- McCreanor, 2008). While there are overlaps tural discourses of ethnicity, gender, nation and continuities, we argue that such charac- and identity. teristics are congruent with broader hegemonic Sport is one of the few areas of news reporting Päkehä discourse about Mäori/Päkehä relations where bad news is not the staple frame that sells and contribute to maintaining Päkehä domi- newspapers. It is also an area in which, at least nance. Historical and contemporary Mäori in the popular imagination, Mäori excel in spite resistance to these ongoing colonial tensions of everything. And it is an area where the active is expressed in both the literature and current construction of biculturalism is “witnessed” as challenges to the power and actions of sporting an everyday commonsensical notion. However, structures such as the NZRFU. Mäori researchers such as Hokowhitu, and From a critical, decolonizing perspective, Palmer and Mullholland, are making strong perhaps even more important is the mundane, claims about Mäori self-determination in and commonplace achievement of media represen- through sports. Current mass media practices tations of sport. The newspapers in our sample often undermine and negate the efforts of Mäori (taken from the entire cohort of daily, bi-weekly communities, players and leaders. and weekly papers available in Aotearoa/New Sport is a prime site for the mundane con- Zealand) are highly signifi cant in their construc- struction and reproduction of power relations tions of Mäori engagement in sporting activities and national identity. In colonial societies, because of their circulation, penetration and media sport overlays the entrenchment and durability in markets. Their presentation is maintenance of colonial power with the ideolo- uncontested since, unlike radio and television, gies of objectivity and social truth. Nonetheless, there is no regular, competitive Mäori voice sport has much to offer in terms of personal to provide alternative news frames, styles and health and development, but even more impor- content. While they may command only fl eet- tantly, as a social and community activity that ing attention in the public eye, newspapers also encourages participation and builds social cohe- have a material presence that, unlike the ephem- sion on a number of fronts. Mäori clearly know era of electronic news, continues to produce these things, and value sport through their their effects well beyond their publication date. own codes and streams that have, for many The absence of a regular Mäori newspaper is decades, served these ends and contributed to in contrast to the daily fl ow of Mäori news from self-determination. Recent iterations of this Mäori perspectives in Te Kaea and Te Karere, on include the “Pä wars” phenomenon (where television. Mäori TV highlights Mäori sport with representatives from different marae within the eloquence and apparent audience satisfaction, same iwi compete in a range of sports, cultural offering choice, shifting frames of news values, and social activities) and the introduction of and celebrating participation as well as success. international sports competitions and fi xtures We argue that it does this from a different set for indigenous people. of underlying values (Smith, 2006)—including There are real questions about the ways in connection/relationships, time/space/history/ which the mass media in Aotearoa/New Zealand context and self-determination/rights—and handles this issue, highlighted in coverage by thereby produces more detailed and nuanced Mäori television and radio, where the stories stories grounded in Mäori community and appear to differ greatly. 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