So a visitor from Denmark, Ms Marie Krarup has touched one of Dr Ranginui Walker's numerous raw nerves. Perhaps he should reflect on the words of the Scottish Poet and sage, Robbie Burns who in 1796 wrote; 'O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us To see oursels as others see us...” or must such honest observations made by a visitor be damned as racist?
What other country in the world welcomes visitors with a physically threatening challenge followed by a war dance?
That the haka and the moko are perceived internationally as the sum total of New Zealand culture is completely unacceptable to most Kiwis today as is the necessity for groups of Maori to get free, tax-payer funded trips overseas to perform unintelligible rituals at the opening of any government building. The insidious way in which these practices have become almost mandatory should be curtailed. Performances that may have been novel, worthwhile and even inspirational in the eighteen hundreds are completely inappropriate in the modern era. But then there would be no koha.

Bryan Johnson, Omokoroa.