KEY POINTS:
One of the highest expressions of Maori physical agility and dignity - the challenge - is being hijacked by creeping gang tendencies, Cabinet minister Shane Jones says.
He says that at ceremonies around the country, he has seen young boys bastardise the wero by "making growling noises like underfed mutts".
"They are snarling like SPCA wards. They are turning it into a naked display of aggression.
"It runs the risk of intimidating rather than showing manuhiri [guests] dignity. It angers me because it represents a subculture of violence, gang culture that is creeping on to the marae," Mr Jones said.
But wero exponent Wetini Mitai, of the Arawa confederation of tribes, strongly disagreed last night.
"It's a show of power. There's a right time to be strong. In the old days, the idea of it was to scare the people. And if you're not doing it then you're not doing your job very well.
"What does he want us to be - just like a bunch of pussies?"
Mr Mitai said one of the most emotional wero he had been involved in was when Jim Bolger's National Government came to apologise to Whakatohea for executing one of his ancestors, Mokomoko, in 1866 for a crime he did not commit. Days like that demanded intimidation.
Mr Jones, the Minister of Building and Construction, said the aggression often seen these days in the wero "defeats the purpose of showing dignity to the visitors".
"The haka, the taki - what is done on the marae must be done to reflect the dignity of the visitors. It must not degenerate into a scene out of Once Were Warriors.
"It is meant to be a statement of athleticism and prowess, not about aggression and intimidation."
Machismo and ego should have little to do with it, Mr Jones said.
"If you want to be staunch and run about like a dog, then go around the back and have a pee - there's no part in Maori ritual for that."
Teachers should "wake up" and make sure their charges knew the depths of the wero, otherwise it should be dispensed with altogether, he said.
Ngapuhi leader Sonny Tau agreed with the minister and said the changing nature of the taki was worrying.
"What the wero does is it measures the level of mana of te hau kainga [the home people] and its visitors.
"But with all the contemporary additions of growling and that sort of carry-on, it minimises the effect of it and it can no longer be called traditional."
Theologian Dr Jenny Te Paa has been critical of what she sees as male aggression - "staunchness" - becoming celebrated in Maori culture, as evidenced by the haka.
Other features such as kindness, gentleness, hospitality and integrity did not get nearly the same attention as the haka or taki, she said.
"The question is, how do we want to be for ourselves first and foremost? Dr Te Paa said.
"We're not alone in this world and I think it does matter how we behave and how we perceive ourselves and therefore how other people will see us."
WHAT IS THE TAKI OR WERO?
It takes place at a powhiri (welcome) for guests when toa (warriors) from the home marae move across the forecourt wielding taiaha (spears).
Greenery is placed in front of the visitors, and one will hold eye contact while picking it up.
It is meant to be an elegant display of athleticism and mana but Shane Jones believes it is under threat, with tones of violent intimidation creeping in.
