'Denigrating and demeaning': Māori haka appropriated in Spain for LGBT pride day

The video shows the Māori haka appropriated in Spain for LGBT pride celebration. Photo / YouTube

A Māori haka appropriated by the Spanish Ministry of Equality to celebrate LGBT pride has been labelled "denigrating and demeaning".

A video posted to YouTube earlier this week shows the Ministry of Equality in Spain celebrating a LGBT day of pride with a version of the Māori haka.

The video's description refers to the haka as a "typical Māori dance to show pride", which was demonstrated during an awards ceremony associated with the LGBT movement.

Chair of National Māori Authority Matthew Tukaki said the haka was often appropriated by other cultures from all over the world.

"There's a lot of people out there who are using the haka – from nurses in England through to drunks in Germany," he said.

"And I think a lot of Māori get pretty sick and tired of the appropriation of our culture."

Last year the haka was used by French lawyers protesting pension reforms, and encouraged in a viral TikTok challenge in which the Kardashians' children participated.

Last September a group of German protesters also attempted to perform a haka in support of their campaign against that country's lockdown laws.

"It does draw attention to Māori culture, but used in an unwise and incorrect way, and a way that denigrates us isn't that nice," Tukaki said.

The Māori haka was appropriated as a LGBT pride celebration in Spain. Photo / YouTube

"And that's certainly what was happening with those tourists in Germany, and one would even argue the lawyers in France."

In the case of the Spanish video, Tukaki suspected they were more focused in the celebration of Pride month.

"I get what they're doing – it's a group of people that want to celebrate that it's Pride Month around the world," he said.

"So they were probably more focused on that, but in doing so – and this is a warning to everyone – don't appropriate someone else's culture just to fulfil your own need."

"What they've done is they've taken the haka, they've removed Te Reo Māori from the haka, they've replaced it with whatever they've said in Spanish and quite frankly, that's not nice."

The video should serve as a "cautionary tale" for groups who wanted to appropriate Māori culture for their own gain, he said.

"The haka has a long and significant history, so do many of our waiata, and it's meaningful when the words are used in the right way."

"How would you feel if we did that to the rainbow flag, in a way that demeaned it?"

"How would you feel if I put on a lawyer's wig and attempted to pass myself off in your courthouse in France?"