Real Genealogists Don't Wear Ski Masks

A woman in New Zealand who thought she was attending a genealogical get-together was actually being recruited by a group of masked Maori "freedom fighters."

The woman, who did not want to be named, told the Herald she thought she was going to a Maori genealogy wananga (place of learning) in Ruatoki, about 15km inland from Whakatane, but was terrified after meeting balaclava-wearing footsoldiers.

"I honestly thought it was a whanau thing so I asked which family they belonged to, but they wouldn't say." [Link]

The woman refused to join, and told the men to "take those stupid bloody balaclavas off."

Whakapapa in the Scrum

From sport.telegraph:

Maori traditions rooted in the never-ending tour
By Brendan Gallagher
(Filed: 10/06/2005)

The clash between New Zealand Maori and the British and Irish Lions [rugby teams] at Hamilton tomorrow - the so-called fourth Test - may be viewed by many as a massive culture clash, but you only have to scratch the surface to realise that it is a meeting of kindred spirits.

The Maori, like their opponents, are always on tour, even in their own country. They are a team of no fixed abode, though they can pitch their tent anywhere on the North Island, where 90 per cent of New Zealand's Maori population live.

[snip]

The eligibility process governing those who can play for Maori is thorough. Those wishing to be considered have their credentials examined by the kaumatua, or cultural advisor, who will trace the players' whakapapa or genealogy.

Waiting for the green light can be a tense business. Christian Cullen - with largely Tongan and Anglo-Irish antecedents - was deemed to have no chance but the kaumatua found him to be 1/64th Maori.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

I'm glad the Boston Celtics don't have a similar requirement. . .