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Story: Māori rugby – whutupaoro

New Zealand Māori lose to South Africa

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New Zealand Māori lose to South Africa

In 1956 New Zealand Māori were thrashed 37–nil by South Africa. In this cartoon one Māori man, embarrassed by the outcome, comments to another, 'I think I'll take my name off the Māori [electoral] roll!' The cartoon was by Harry Dansey, of Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Te Arawa, who later became the race relations conciliator.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: J-065-068

by Harry Delamere Barter Dansey

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Malcolm Mulholland, Māori rugby – whutupaoro – Rugby union, 1949 to 2000s, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/cartoon/39637/new-zealand-maori-lose-to-south-africa (accessed 24 June 2026).

Story by Malcolm Mulholland, published 3 December 2012, updated 1 January 2015.