Māori elite athletes are individuals who hold a significant place in New Zealand and global sporting experience owing to their physical stamina and energy in the elite-level sport. In addition to excelling in elite-level sport, the Māori athletes have managed to weave their Māori identity both publicly and privately in a global sporting context. In essence, these athletes have managed to uphold their ethnocultural identity by implementing Māori knowledge and cultural practices. However, it should be noted that this cultural success has not been an easy feat owing to deep-rooted colonial ideologies, which viewed the Māori as deficient people. The presumed deficits among the Māori played a significant role in making this culturally competent society lag behind affecting its social identity. Nonetheless, the national efforts to form a national identity has helped to put the Māori back in line through the integration of their private and public identities. In analyzing this ethnocultural identity, Erueti and Palmer (2014), adopted the term ‘the identity mat’ to show how the Māori elite athletes internalize their ethnocultural identity both publicly and privately.
The identity mat (Te Whariki Tuakiri) is a metaphor that the writers have used to help readers understand the diverse Māori cultural identity which is at the expense of the Māori elite athletes. In essence, this metaphor tends to bring to a convergence the public and the private cultural underpinnings revolving around the Māori culture. In using this metaphor, the writers are keen on capturing the historical aspects of the Māori culture which revolved around weaving prior to the colonization. This weaving formed an essential Māori culture process since it took a central cultural stand owing to the intricate weaving process. Here, the master weavers had to make sure that every strand had to interweave skillfully to maintain the shape and the integrity of the whariki. The intricate process of shaping the whariki is an attempt to explore the Māori athletes’ ethnocultural identity in both the private and public realms of elite-level sporting. As it is, the Māori athletes have to be aware of their own cultural affiliation so that they can negotiate the public and private ethnocultural connotations (Brown, 2015). An effective infusion of both private and public ethnocultural aspects will make it easier for the athletes to fit within their immediate, national and global sporting arena
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Māori elite athletes have had to face numerous challenges to become the iconic athletes they are today. One of the main challenges that these athletes have had to deal with is the inferiority tag that was gotten during the colonization era. The European colonizers apart from treating the Māori as inferior people, they viewed them as physically oriented people instead of logic people. The turn of the event could be adduced to the Treaty of Waitangi, which led to a paternalistic relationship between the Māori and the British Crown (Moon, 2012). Instead of the Māori being treated as equals, the Māori were treated as lesser individuals, which worked to erode their ethnocultural identity. Moreover, the treaty resulted in a physical/intellectual dichotomy as a result of assimilation and Europeanization which in turn worked by limiting Māori throughout the colonial history. In essence, the assimilation of the Māori weakened their cultural identity as they moved towards adopting a new culture (Erueti & Palmer, 2014). In the process, the Māori lost crucial ethnocultural aspects as the assimilation got rid of the Māori cultural baggage, which then spelled doom for this society.
Colonization and assimilation played a crucial role in redefining the Māori culture. The once vibrant culture became ridden with much negativity since the colonizers tended to view the Māori as ‘physically, organically, intellectually and morally, far inferior to the European’. This inferiority then meant that there was no education or cultivation would change this new-found and self-constructed reality. The writers are able to capture a grim reality, which creates in the reader sadness and anger on how a small group can influence the thinking of a larger group. By referring to the Māori as inferior to the European, the writers are trying to establish that a group can decide to stick to what others say they are or rise above their predicament. Sadly, the writer establishes that the Māori bought into the inferiority tag and in fact viewed themselves as second-class citizens (Erueti & Palmer, 2014). What this did was to push Māori culture to oblivion and as a result, most of the Māori had limited cultural knowledge. In essence, the Māori ethnocultural identity became marginalized as most of them accepted that their cultural practices were outdated. The attempt to revive this culture by the several concerned stakeholders is a step in the right direction as it aims to create a culturally vibrant society.
The writers have managed to reveal to the readers on the role played by self-defined ethnocultural identities. The European colonizers viewed Māori as more of physical rather than cognitive and intellect individuals. In turn, the Māori driven by this self-defined reality put more energy into physical pursuits including sports (Erueti, 2014). Perhaps this is a good thing considering that the Māori has thrived in a sport where the Māori have shown prominence in team sports such as netball, rugby, basketball, and field hockey. This success goes ahead to reveal how individuals can get into something just because there is a reinforcement of the popular beliefs. The media has helped to perpetuate the popular beliefs as it was key in promoting deficit theories that the Māori are cut for physical pursuits. Interestingly the sporting field allows the Māori to feature positively as the field is a place of recognition, acceptance, and opportunity, which had been non-existent. However, this new-found field creates more tension as the Māori do not automatically find belongingness owing to the tensions associated with ethnocultural identity matters. There is a faction of thinkers who still feel that the Māori are not meant to feature positively as they still associate them with the negative historical underpinnings.
The Māori ethnocultural identity is very fluid as its parameters keep on shifting owing to various historical and cultural shifts. In essence, the shifting can be adduced to the changing group needs in relation to the wider society. What this means is that the Māori are constantly under pressure, as the immediate society tends to set high expectations for this group. However, the writers have tried to set parameters on which to establish which individual fits to be a part of the Māori. Here the writers believe that a person must have Māori ancestry to be included in the Māori ethnicity (Erueti and Palmer, 2014). Moreover, the particular person must make a personal choice to be identified as a Māori by recognizing, having, living and acknowledging a wide range of Māori practices and beliefs (Poata-Smith, 2013). While these parameters are acceptable as a true measure of Māori ethnicity, one would feel that it may not be an effective measure considering that it involves personal decisions to belong. What of those individuals who belong to this ethnicity but are not ready to accept it due to historical, political or social reasons. Does it mean that these individuals will be locked out of this ethnicity just because they are not willing to accept that they are Māori? The writers further establish that the Māori do not subscribe to similar self-identity in terms of cultural experiences, beliefs, and language. This difference in self-identity comes in the way of establishing their ethnocultural identity, which hampers the efforts of unification.
The writers have tried to establish what it means to be Māori though they accept that this definition keeps on changing depending on the era and social inclinations and expectations. A 10-15 year which is known as longitudinal study Te Hoe Nuku Roa (THNR) was conducted to establish what it means to be a Māori in the 1990’s by analyzing seven crucial identity markers. The markers included ancestry, self-identification, participation, ancestral land, associations, Māori language, and contacts with the Māori people (Erueti and Palmer, 2014). While this longitudinal is acclaimed for it is an attempt to give meaning to the Māori culture, the study is seen as a way of boxing the Māori people (Smith, 2012). In essence, individuals cannot be described or classified with these characteristics, which are considered basic which do not consider other spiritual and economic factors. Moreover, critics of this ‘boxing’ feel that it is not suitable to apply generic terms when it comes to diverse groupings. More so, the ‘boxing’; of individuals into several characteristics is problematic as it runs the risk of assuming that there is homogeneity even in groups which may not be homogenous. This proposition is true especially when one understands that Māori is a diverse group thanks to colonization, urbanization, and globalization which have altered the originality of the Māori’s. As it is, being Māori keeps on changing due to political and social-cultural needs of the labeled and those doing the labeling itself (Erueti and Palmer, 2014). From this proposition, it is clear that there is a need to adopt another scale, which takes into consideration the changes that have taken the place over time.
With Māori ethno-cultural identity being such a hard concept to put into perspective, there is a need to use appropriate research tools. This proposition is especially true when one is considering the Māori elite athletes who are struggling with ethnocultural identity. Following the complexity of identifying the ethnocultural perspectives, researchers are making use of Kaupapa Māori theory (KMT) as it allows for the views of the athletes to be heard and made part of the greater cultural synthesis. In essence, athlete’s views provide a deeper insight as individuals are able to understand what the athletes think regarding their Māori ethnocultural identity (Hippolite and Bruce, 2013). For the most part, researchers have relied on longitudinal studies, which have not taken into consideration the views of the research subjects which has in turn yielded into inconclusive findings. As it is, the KMT is a research tool, which identifies and acknowledges the Māori knowledge, perceptions, perspectives, attitudes, and opinions (Lourie and Rata, 2014). In doing this, the researcher places the Māori at the heart of the research. Ideally, KMT a research tool that is by Mori, for Māori and with Māori in mind thus infusing all of the Māori aspects in every step of the research process. From this assumption, one can be able to determine that it is important to put more emphasis on understanding the Māori culture from the Māori rather than on historical writings.
The Māori elite athletes are individuals who are called to stand out as ethnocultural distinct individuals both at the national and world stage. However, this is not usually possible considering that they are coming out of a culture, which has continuously struggle with deficit ideologies (Erueti, 2014). Nonetheless, these athletes have continually tried to fit within the existing ethnocultural definitions, which view them both in private and public cultural definitions. In essence, these athletes have become part of a cultural narrative as they tend to experience their ethnocultural identity following the implementation of Māori cultural practices and knowledge (Fitzpatrick, 2011). Overall, the Māori elite athletes believe that the Māori cultural practices have a significant impact on them as Māori athletes, New Zealanders as well as a global sporting team. The writers have made a great effort to establish how the Māori athletes are weaving their Māori identity both privately and publicly. Here one can see a great challenge, which faces these athletes as they try to maintain a self-identity while still trying to fit within publicly formed ethnocultural perspectives. Luckily, the athletes are able to reach within their private expressions of the Māori culture, which in turns helps them to build on their public Māori expressions (Doherty, 2014). Moreover, the writer is keen to establish that a proper infusion of private and public ethnocultural identity will not only help the athletes but also their communities.
The Māori elite athletes present a significant aspect when it comes to the perception of ethnocultural identity. According to Erueti and Palmer (2014), Māori elite athletes’ public ethnocultural identity experience is different from their private ethnocultural experiences. However, both the public and private aspects are significant as they form the overall Māori personal identity. In essence, both of these aspects tend to evoke deep emotional cultural attachments in as much as the athletes may tend to have varying knowledge regarding Māori customs and language. The New Zealand identity in the sporting arena was advised by the Māori culture considering that most of the athletes are Māori and as such there was a need to incorporate their symbols, values, and rituals. In essence, the incorporation of the cultural aspects was aimed at developing an ethnocultural environment that embraced the Māori culture, which had for a long time remained hidden. One would view this as an attempt to develop a personal cultural experience within the athletes, which would then become a public experience. In as much as there has been an attempt to build upon the Māori ethnocultural identity, the writers feel that the Māori elite athletes are not yet ready (Erueti, 2014). The reason for this proposition is the fact that the athletes feel their Māori culture knowledge is low which then causes an identity crisis. One would feel that this turn of event is unfortunate and is not what one would want for such a vibrant team, which is tasked with reviving a forgotten ethnocultural identity. As a result, one wonders what can be done to help these athletes reach within their ethnic affiliations and be significant cultural representatives.
In conclusion, the Māori elite athletes provide a significant basis on how a group can revive its ethnocultural identity through the infusion of private and public cultural infusion. The writers adapt the concept of ‘identity mat’ to show the intricate process of growing and maintain an ethnocultural identity, which is built upon personal cultural identity. In essence, the writers make an attempt of establishing that the Māori culture, which is at the center of the discussion, is a result of private and public cultural expressions. For a long time, the Māori have been subjected to inferiority owing to the European colonization, which brought the Māori cultural identity to near extinction. Furthermore, urbanization and globalization further diluted the Māori cultural expressions by bringing in new elements. As a result, the modern Māori are losing touch with the ethnocultural identity and what remains are traces of what used to be a vibrant and energetic culture. However, all this is bound to change owing to the numerous efforts to revive this culture through Māori elite athletes. By incorporating the Māori symbols and values in the New Zealand sporting arena, the Māori athletes are getting in touch with their self and ethnocultural identity. As a result, their communities are getting affected positively as they seek to get in touch with their ethnocultural identity.
References
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