The Te Aro Brewing Company is under fire for its use of a Polynesian navigator to promote alcohol. Photo: Te Aro Brewing Company
A Māori cultural advisor is "gobsmacked" an Upper Hutt brewery has released a beer named Kupe as part of a series showcasing historical explorers.
Te Aro Brewing Company, based in Upper Hutt's Brewtown, is rolling out six limited-release beers in its Age of Discovery series.
The third beer - a New Zealand IPA called Kupe - had been released, and its design featured the bare-chested Polynesian navigator holding what appeared to be a taiaha.
A social media post by Te Aro Brewing advertising a new beer named after the legendary Polynesian explorer, Kupe. Photo: Screenshot / Supplied
Other craft beers in the series had been named after explorers Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan.
Controversy over brewery naming beer "Kupe"
Tikanga expert Dr Karaitiana Taiuru (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Toa) said he was shocked to see Te Aro Brewing had named a beer after Kupe.
"I was gobsmacked this is actually happening in New Zealand in 2024.
"Depicting and using a famous Māori and Pacifica ancestor such as Kupe for alcohol is highly offensive," Taiuru said.
"We know the social harms caused by alcohol to Māori."
Close up of a craft beer at the Te Aro Brewing Company taproom in Brewtown, Upper Hutt. Photo: Denise Garland
Not only that, Taiuru said a series of beers that celebrated colonial explorers who had taken so much from indigenous cultures was in poor taste - and not only to Māori.
"Both [Columbus and Magellan] are colonial discovering captains who are responsible for huge numbers of deaths and the colonisation of indigenous peoples.
"We've got those colonial, evil people being branded and promoted [alongside] a famous Māori and Pacifica ancestor and explorer," he said.
Taiuru also took issue with the beer label design, and the fact Te Aro Brewing Company first announced the beer with a Matariki-inspired social media post.
"The way that Kupe has been portrayed on the image promotes colonial misinformation and [an idea of] racial superiority that Māori were either underfed or skinny. We do know that our Māori ancestors were quite large, muscular people - we had really good diets.
"We didn't just get lost coming to New Zealand, it was well-navigated using the stars.
"In this case we didn't use Matariki to get to New Zealand, we use a number of other stars," Taiuru said.
"It just appears to be a cheap way to commercialise on New Zealand's public holiday, and a very significant cultural day for Māori."
Te Aro was not the first brewery to be called out for the inappropriate use of Māori kupu and imagery on beer products.
In 2016, Auckland's Birkenhead Brewing Company apologised for using images of Te Arawa ancestors Tūtānekai and Hinemoa on two of its beer labels.
Several UK and European breweries had also been accused of cultural appropriation for using Māori images and kupu on their beer labels in 2017 and 2018, including a Belgian brewery for naming one of its offerings "Māori Tears", and a brewer in Bath for having a caricature of a Māori man riding a Kiwi while performing pukana on a beer label.
Those indiscretions caused the Brewers Guild of New Zealand to produce a guide on the appropriate use of Māori culture in the brewing industry.
Taiuru said there was no excuse for Te Aro Brewing falling short of the mark.
"There's been a significant amount of work in raising these sorts of issues, raising awareness, working with the brewing industry to prevent this from happening," he said.
"Just a quick Google search will show people what's offensive and what's not offensive with any sort of branding or marketing."
The brewers needed to take action, and make serious changes, he said.
"I think they need to consider whether promoting two colonial explorers actually is culturally appropriate. Is it insensitive to Native Americans and insensitive to the Filipino communities?
"They should consult with local iwi about the appropriateness of using Kupe, fact check who Kupe is, fact check Matariki, and read the room, I guess."
Te Aro Brewing has declined to speak on the record in response to RNZ's questions.