| Summary: | This thesis operates on two levels. Firstly, it is an account
of the ongInS, composition and experiences of the
predominantly Maori New Zealand Native football team in
Britain, Australia and New Zealand during 1888-89. Secondly,
it uses the main themes and incidents of the tour as a basis to
examine some aspects of the interaction between race, class,
imperialism and sport during the late nineteenth century -
both within Britain and in her colonies. Patterns emerge which
question existing interpretations as to the diffusion and
strength of an elite British ethos which linked sport to higher
social and political ideals and to the maintenance of imperial
objectives.
The thesis IS divided into SIX chapters. The first two trace
the composition of the team, motives for the tour and initial
responses to it in New Zealand. The wider focus is on a set of
colonial aspirations which saw the tour as having an important
bearing, positive or otherwise, on British perception of the
fledgling New Zealand colony. Points are also raised
concermng the relationship between Maori and European in this
process. Chapters three, four and five, covering the tour of
Britain, are primarily based around a dichotomy between elite
and working class interests which is revealed in contrasting responses to a predominantly Maori team and to its behaviour
both on and off the sports field. An assessment is made of the
suspect motives of those who controlled and financed the tour,
and comparisons are also made with the 1868 Aboriginal
cricket team to Britain. The final chapter and Conclusion
challenge standard interpretations of the Native team and
consider its wider value as an indicator of new perspectives
on the study of sports history.
Research is based very largely on newspaper sources. More
than seventy publications, both metropolitan and provincial,
have been consulted in Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
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