This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7882775.stm
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 1 | Version 2 |
---|---|
New Zealand Maori win haka fight | |
(about 3 hours later) | |
The New Zealand government has agreed to acknowledge Maori ownership of the haka war dance used by the national rugby team, the All Blacks. | |
The agreement comes after protracted negotiations between the government and a several Maori tribes seeking compensation for historic grievances. | |
Millions of dollars are being paid in a comprehensive settlement. | |
The move follows concerns the Ka Mate haka, known to rugby fans world-wide, was being commercially exploited. | |
In 2006, an advertisement for Fiat cars featured Italian women doing a version of the haka. | |
The challenge has also featured in a cinema film about rugby called Forever Strong. | |
The government has now agreed that the Ka Mate haka belongs to a Maori tribe, the Ngati Toa. | |
Its chief, Te Rauparaha, was recognised as the originator of the haka, written to celebrate his escape from death in a battle in the 1820s. | |
What exactly is a haka? | What exactly is a haka? |
Cash settlement | |
Wider grievances, dating back more than 150 years, are also part of the settlement, with the government distributing NZ$300m (US$157m, £108m) to eight Maori tribes. | |
The eight tribes comprise some 12,000 members and will receive about half the amount in cash and the rest in rents from government-owned forests and greenhouse gas emission credits. | |
Maori make up around 15% of New Zealand's 4.3 million population. | |
They say they have been the victims of illegal land seizures and breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi, which was agreed between British settlers and indigenous people in 1840. | |
One Maori negotiator said this latest settlement would never make up for what had been taken but would provide a resource for the future. | |