Maori Eligibility
One of the problems growing old is seeing the same things come up time and time again - no, I'm not talking about when the NZ Orienteering Nationals should be held, but the eligibility for the NZ Maori rugby team.
The latest to have a potshot is NSW's Morgan Turinui, himself of Maori ancestry. Boring - it's really quite easy. As our treaty partners tell us, if you think you're Maori, you are Maori. Whether you have half, quarter, or even one-sixtyfourth Maori blood in you is beside the point.
Case in point my soon-to-be stepchildren. Both are born to a part-Maori mother and a father from the iwi of Ngati Pakeha. If I call my 10-y.o. stepdaughter Maori I'll get a kick in the shins. If I call my 12-y.o. stepson Pakeha I'll get a kick in a place a little higher than the shins.
God it must have been a slow news day for the media to drag this one out again.
The latest to have a potshot is NSW's Morgan Turinui, himself of Maori ancestry. Boring - it's really quite easy. As our treaty partners tell us, if you think you're Maori, you are Maori. Whether you have half, quarter, or even one-sixtyfourth Maori blood in you is beside the point.
Case in point my soon-to-be stepchildren. Both are born to a part-Maori mother and a father from the iwi of Ngati Pakeha. If I call my 10-y.o. stepdaughter Maori I'll get a kick in the shins. If I call my 12-y.o. stepson Pakeha I'll get a kick in a place a little higher than the shins.
God it must have been a slow news day for the media to drag this one out again.
Labels: opinion
posted by Rob Crawford at 6:11 PM
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