The Hurricanes’ women’s Super Rugby side have been criticised for a controversial haka that slammed the New Zealand government. The rugby team, known as the Poua, performed an altered haka before their season opening match against the Chiefs Manawa team last weekend. Hurricanes boss Avan Lee was not happy with the haka and stated that the club would be making an apology to the coalition government.‘The Hurricanes shouldn’t be making any political statement,’ Lee said.
The haka included the words ‘karetao o te Kāwana kakiwhero’, translating to ‘puppets of this redneck government’. The haka also made reference to Toitu te Tiriti, a political movement that has spoken out against coalition government policies on the Māori language known as te reo Māori and perceived breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi.
‘If they do it needs to be agreed across the organisation because we have got players and staff who are not comfortable with what is being said.’ ‘There are obviously players and staff who agree with it but that is missing the point .. we were blindsided. New Zealand’s centre-right coalition government has pledged to undo te policies of previous governments, particularly some of those promoting the official use of the Maori language.
‘Us making a political statement is inappropriate whether they’re saying ‘the government is great or the government is not great’ that’s not our role.’ However, the rugby side’s haka leader Leilani Perese stands by the message and claims she ran it past team management before performing. Many indigenous groups see the move as undermining their rights and status. ‘I believe in what we’re saying, I stand by it,’ Perese said. ‘To tell the government that we are stronger than ever, and we will never go down without a war.’
