Aotearoa/New Zealand

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the evolving relationship between sport and ethnicity in Aotearoa/New Zealand. It is divided into five sections, each representing a broad rather than strictly demarcated phase. The first section examines the role of sport in Māori society. The second investigates the role of sport in colonial society, in particular the way it represented an emerging national and bicultural identity. The third section discusses an emerging multiculturalism in sport during the interwar period. The fourth section discusses the increasingly contested nature of sport and biculturalism between 1945 and 1990 and an accompanying ethnic diversification of sport. The final section 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.