M  aori Rugby and Subversion: Creativity, Domestication, Oppression and Decolonization Brendan Hokowhitu This article examines the genesis of racialized discourse and whiteness in Aotearoa/New Zealand through rugby, the ‘national game’. The construction of historical racial parameters will be investigated through accounts of the M aori All Blacks, a ‘race’-based team that, since its inception, has facilitated the allegorical logic of race in Aotearoa/New Zealand by anchoring P akeh a whiteness in contrast to the brown skin of M aori rugby players. The article traces the changing nature of dominant constructions of P akeh a whiteness in relation to M aori, firstly, as imperialists, colonizers and assimilators, secondly, as proponents of racial equality (especially in relation to ‘the old foe’ – South Africa) and, more recently, as advocates of biculturalism. The article achieves this by examining historical case studies where racialized discourses were prominent, including the debate whether to include M aori All Blacks in All Black tours to South Africa and, more recently, the discourse surrounding the ‘hanging by a fingernail’ saga, which developed when a number of prominent players who ‘did not look M aori’ were selected to play for the M aori All Blacks. On sport’s level playing field, it is possible to challenge and overturn the dominant hierarchies of nation, race and class. The reversal may be limited and transient, but it is nonetheless real. It is, therefore, wrong to see black sporting achievement merely as an index of oppression; it is equally and index of creativity, collective and individual. [1] According to Gordon Slatter, ‘Maoris played rugby right from the early days of the game in New Zealand. It is thought that the first Maori to play in an organized game of rugby was one named Wirihana, who played in the 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Brendan Hokowhitu, School of M aori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies, University of Otago, Dunedin, Aotearoa/New Zealand. Correspondence to: brendan.hokowhitu@stonebow.otago.ac.nz kothandamk 27/11/09 19:42 FHSP_A_446063 (XML) The International Journal of the History of Sport Vol. 26, No. 16, December 2009, 1–21 ISSN 0952-3367 (print)/ISSN 1743-9035 (online) Ó 2009 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/09523360903457023