Can this be true?
An English Premier League soccer club has upset New Zealanders with plans to perform a *******ised rip-off of their famous haka before its season opener this week.
The Everton Football Club has hired Maori dancers to perform the dance as Everton and Arsenal run onto the park at Liverpool on Saturday.
Club management has vowed to go ahead with it despite written threats from a leading Maori lawyer that the dance trespasses on Maori rights and disrespects their cultural heritage.
Intellectual property lawyer Maui Solomon told the Herald on Sunday he thought the haka, which starts "Everton! Everton! He, ha, he, ha!", was "totally disrespectful".
"People overseas need to know Maori culture isn't just up for grabs," said Solomon, who represents three Maori tribes who are making an intellectual property rights claim on the use of the haka.
"This is the thin edge of the wedge. People all over the world are appropriating Maori culture for commercial purposes."
Te Riki Wi Neera, a spokesman for Ngati Toa, the tribal home of the most famous Ka Mate haka performed by the All Blacks, said it was sad to see anyone making a joke of the war dance.
"Ideally we'd rather not see this happening at all. It's awful to see and I think the situation with rip-offs is going to get a whole lot worse as we get closer to the [New Zealand-hosted] Rugby World Cup in 2011."
But the club was unrepentant, saying the haka - unveiled as part of the team's new strip and "All Black" look - was never meant to be disrespectful.
"As a club we understand what the haka represents and we simply wanted to celebrate the launch of our new all black playing strip with a dedicated Everton haka," Everton FC spokesman Mark Rowan said.
He said the club had had "nothing but positive comments" since the haka was first performed last week, "and we do plan to perform the Everton haka again".
The New Zealand Rugby Union is not worried, with commercial manager Paul Dalton saying intellectual property rights around the All Blacks were monitored carefully.
"Our main concern here would be making sure there's no confusion for our fans," he said.
"Everton's new pink and black strip, at first look, doesn't look like anything All Black fans should be worried about."
It is the second haka rip-off to land the Brits in hot water this year.
In February, the dance was performed by a group of drunken men leaving a strip club in Britain's world-renowned Royal Shakespeare Company's production of The Taming of the Shrew.
Maori tribes were also unimpressed by a rendition by Italian women in a Fiat commercial and again by its use in the 2008 Hollywood rugby movie Forever Strong.
An English Premier League soccer club has upset New Zealanders with plans to perform a *******ised rip-off of their famous haka before its season opener this week.
The Everton Football Club has hired Maori dancers to perform the dance as Everton and Arsenal run onto the park at Liverpool on Saturday.
Club management has vowed to go ahead with it despite written threats from a leading Maori lawyer that the dance trespasses on Maori rights and disrespects their cultural heritage.
Intellectual property lawyer Maui Solomon told the Herald on Sunday he thought the haka, which starts "Everton! Everton! He, ha, he, ha!", was "totally disrespectful".
"People overseas need to know Maori culture isn't just up for grabs," said Solomon, who represents three Maori tribes who are making an intellectual property rights claim on the use of the haka.
"This is the thin edge of the wedge. People all over the world are appropriating Maori culture for commercial purposes."
Te Riki Wi Neera, a spokesman for Ngati Toa, the tribal home of the most famous Ka Mate haka performed by the All Blacks, said it was sad to see anyone making a joke of the war dance.
"Ideally we'd rather not see this happening at all. It's awful to see and I think the situation with rip-offs is going to get a whole lot worse as we get closer to the [New Zealand-hosted] Rugby World Cup in 2011."
But the club was unrepentant, saying the haka - unveiled as part of the team's new strip and "All Black" look - was never meant to be disrespectful.
"As a club we understand what the haka represents and we simply wanted to celebrate the launch of our new all black playing strip with a dedicated Everton haka," Everton FC spokesman Mark Rowan said.
He said the club had had "nothing but positive comments" since the haka was first performed last week, "and we do plan to perform the Everton haka again".
The New Zealand Rugby Union is not worried, with commercial manager Paul Dalton saying intellectual property rights around the All Blacks were monitored carefully.
"Our main concern here would be making sure there's no confusion for our fans," he said.
"Everton's new pink and black strip, at first look, doesn't look like anything All Black fans should be worried about."
It is the second haka rip-off to land the Brits in hot water this year.
In February, the dance was performed by a group of drunken men leaving a strip club in Britain's world-renowned Royal Shakespeare Company's production of The Taming of the Shrew.
Maori tribes were also unimpressed by a rendition by Italian women in a Fiat commercial and again by its use in the 2008 Hollywood rugby movie Forever Strong.
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