ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the evolving relationship between sport and ethnicity in Aotearoa/New Zealand. It examines the role of sport in Maori society and colonial society, in particular the way it represented an emerging national and bicultural identity. The chapter discusses an emerging multiculturalism in sport during the interwar period and the increasingly contested nature of sport and biculturalism between 1945 and 1990 and an accompanying ethnic diversification of sport. It also discusses the relationship between sport and ethnicity during the last quarter-century as New Zealand negotiates its status as a nation with a bicultural heritage and ever-increasing multicultural society. New Zealand’s first three decades as a British colony, between 1840 and 1870, coincided with a significant transformation of sport in Britain. The period between 1914 and 1945 saw sport consolidate its position in New Zealand society through expanded provision in schools, shorter working hours, improved communications and other infrastructure, and limited government involvement.
