The Global Warrior. Māori, rugby, and diasporic Indigeneity

Many Māori men today follow a career in rugby union to achieve a good life, tracing their trajectories as athletes and as men in a dynamic scenario of global mobility. Historically, Māori men have played a significant role in the illustrious New Zealand rugby. Their game has also contributed to restoring Māori’s “depleted manhood”. In Māori settings, rugby has come to be associated with mana “spiritual prestige or authority,” which makes players responsible towards their communities, and has become a privileged site for men to achieve recognition and leadership. In 1995, the professionalization of international rugby added opportunities for socioeconomic progress. Māori masculinities share the colonial construct of the noble (yet violent) warrior with other Indigenous masculinities. Moreover, the warrior conjures an effort to withstand cultural, social, and political vulnerability, which characterizes the Indigenous condition as much as struggle does