A REVIEW OF THE CURRENT LEGAL STATE AND GOVERNANCE OF THE HAKA KA MATE

Intern

Jury Teniteni-Smeaton, Victoria University of Wellington

Supervisor

Dr Jesse Pirini & Associate Professor Jessica Lai, Victoria University of Wellington

Overview

This internship project examines the collision and contest of te ao Māori and the intellectual property system with respect to mātauranga Māori. The overall research goal of the internship was to identify a specific kind of mātauranga Māori from a specific community, and to start to compare and contrast how it is managed within that community, with how it exists and would be managed within the patent system (or how it might, if it were to enter the patent system).

The intern focused on the haka Ka Mate. The project aimed to address the question - whether the interests of Ngāti Toa Rangatira relating to Ka Mate are sufficiently protected by this Act and any other relevant enactment or policy of the Crown? - in reviewing the Haka Ka Mate Act 2014. The intern then investigated the interests and cultural significance of the Haka to Ngāti Toa, and the current intellectual property system and its interaction with the haka Ka Mate. Lastly this project considered the effectiveness of the Act in these circumstances and poses questions of how Ngāti Toa assert their interests in relation to external parties' use of the haka.