Fake Maori Spark Controversy In NZ
Dave BondA tour operator in New Zealand is facing trouble with authorities because it has hired travelling backpackers to impersonate Maori and entertain tourists.
The tour company Discovery Heritage Group located in the city of Tauranga on the North Island, paid backpackers hailing from Israel and France to disguise themselves using feathered robes as well as pen-drawn tattoos on their faces and jump aboard large visiting cruise ships when they anchored into the Port.
Discovery Heritage Group director Terina Puriri told reporters that using foreigners should be a problem and she said that tourists appear to enjoy them since they look beautiful.
Ms Puriri, who is herself Maori although not part of the local Tauranga tribe, said her decision to hire foreigners was mainly due to the extreme laziness of the local Maori.
Port of Tauranga Commercial Manager Graeme Marshall said the fake Maori were now banned from the port.
He said that his decision was based on security concerns and cultural.
According to Mr Marshall, the fact the fake Maori were invited to work in the port and said they were New Zealand citizen is a breach of security.
Maori elders said they were most insulted by the comments made Ms Purini branding them as “lazy”.
Local Maori tribe Chairman HuiKakahu Kawe claimed that several Maori want to work.
He that many people in his community are entrepreneurs who get up early in the morning and work all day.
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Filed under Travel News, World News