ABSTRACT
This chapter explores what role Maori rugby and in particular the Maori All Blacks play in the professional era. Maori, the tangata whenua (indigenous people) of Aotearoa (New Zealand), have played a key part in how rugby union has developed in New Zealand during the process of colonisation, the formative years as a nation, during the game's amateur era and most recently during its professional era (1995–2015). Hokowhitu highlighted how early Maori rugby represented 're-imagined' tino rangatiratanga (self-determination), mana (prestige) building and re-masculinising of Maori manhood at a time when these were under threat. In 2015 there were 233 Maori players involved in the high performance programme. A significant moment in the recent history of the Maori team was their performance of the Timatanga haka introduced in 2001 and composed by team kaumatua (elder) Whetu Tipiwai. A special moment in the recent history of Maori rugby was the centenary games and celebrations in 2010.
