Protecting haka: Cultural IP at risk in global corporate workshops - Editorial

Tainui haka group Te Pou-o-Mangatawhiri performs on the Matatini stage in New Plymouth on Tuesday. Photo / Te Matatini Enterprises

Opinion

THREE KEY FACTS

• Te Matatini in New Plymouth welcomed over 2000 performers, celebrating the essence of kapa haka.
• Haka is being commodified globally, stripping it of its cultural roots and significance.
• Businesses must engage Māori experts to ensure haka is shared respectfully, preserving its cultural integrity.

On Monday in New Plymouth, a pōwhiri welcomed more than 2000 performers to Te Matatini, the national kapa haka competition. Over the next few days, the best kapa haka exponents will take the stage — not for profit, but for whakapapa, identity, and the sheer excellence of Māori performing arts. This is haka in its truest form: steeped in tikanga (custom), performed with mana, and fiercely protected.

A performer from Auckland haka group Manutaki on the Matatini stage in New Plymouth on Tuesday. Photo / Te Matatini Enterprises

Yet, a different approach to haka is playing out thousands of kilometres away. In European stadiums, at corporate events, even stag dos, corporate team-building workshops are turning haka into a commodity — sold, packaged, and stripped of its roots.

Herald journalist Tom Dillane’s article, Haka for Sale: Inside the problematic global trend of Māori dance workshops for corporate clients: exposes an uncomfortable truth: haka risks becoming a gimmick when divorced from its origins.

Corporate clients from a haka workshop in Europe with fake mokos.

There is a difference between appropriation and appropriate sharing. Some organisations in Aotearoa are engaging with businesses to share haka in a way that upholds tikanga Māori, ensuring the practice remains connected to its cultural roots rather than being treated as a commodity.

Māori cultural intellectual property (IP) is more than trademarks and copyrights; it is whakapapa (genealogy) and taonga (treasure) passed down through generations. When businesses — often without Māori involvement — repurpose haka as a team-building exercise, the more profound significance is lost. Worse, it disrespects the iwi, hapū, and whānau who hold the mātauranga (knowledge) of haka.

Māori cultural knowledge has long been extracted and repackaged, from tā moko designs on cheap souvenirs to misusing Māori words in branding. The global rise of haka workshops follows the same pattern. If unchecked, we risk a future where haka is seen not as a sacred and powerful expression but as an off-the-shelf product, available for a fee.

A haka workshop conducted by the Authentic Haka Experience in Noordwijk, Netherlands, for Heineken in 2022. Photo / Facebook

The law offers little protection. Te Tiriti o Waitangi provides a framework, but intellectual property law does not fully recognise indigenous ownership of culture. The WAI 262 claim, often called the “Māori intellectual property claim”, sought to change this, asserting Māori rights over their traditional knowledge and expressions. Decades later, the fight continues.

So what happens now? Businesses wanting to use haka or other Māori cultural practices must engage with Māori experts, not as consultants after the fact, but as decision-makers from the outset. The Government should strengthen legal protections for Māori cultural IP, ensuring Māori retain control over their own knowledge, traditions, and expressions. Or exploitation will continue.

Haka is not a corporate exercise or a party trick — it is whakapapa, identity, and history. When delivered with tikanga, it can be shared in a way that uplifts and educates. Divorced from its roots, it becomes hollow. True engagement with Māori culture must be on Māori terms, with understanding and respect at its core.