Using an intellectual property and human rights frame, this paper explores the global performance of the haka, a traditional and complex dance of the Māori people of New Zealand. My questions are: Does the use of haka by non-Māori constitute appropriation of the Māori culture, and if so, how? Is cultural appropriation a human rights violation? How does cultural appropriation encroach upon intellectual propert laws? While the specific focus of this paper is the haka, understanding culture as intellectual property and a human right is a broad issue relevant to other indigenous peoples in the global economy.
