Abstract

Sport has been linked to national and ethnic identity in Aotearoa/New Zealand since the second half of the nineteenth century. ¹ It has given New Zealand its most recognizable national symbol – a silver fern on a black uniform. It is also linked to dominant narratives central to New Zealand’s self-image, notably the notion that New Zealanders are an active, physical people blessed with an environment where sport and recreation are available to all and where anyone can achieve within an apparently egalitarian society. ² There is a long history of engagement with sport and physical activity among all ethnicities in New Zealand, particularly between Māori (the name generally used to refer to the indigenous people of New Zealand) and Pākehā (the name by which New Zealanders of European/British ancestry are widely known); descendants of the signatories of the bicultural covenant in New Zealand known as the Treaty of Waitangi signed in 1840. ³