Maori community leader June Jackson says MP Judith Collins' anger at being asked to sit behind men at a state school powhiri is "a big to-do about nothing".
Ms Jackson, the chief executive of the Manukau Urban Maori Authority, said Maori had been forced to assimilate into European culture whetherthey wanted to or not.
"What we are asking the other side to do is a simple thing: observe our protocol," she said. "Unless we practise our culture and our values and our beliefs, they will die."
A powhiri (welcome) was just one aspect of Maori culture, and in holding such events Government departments acknowledged Maori clients.
When visiting events framed by a particular culture, "whether Indian or Chinese or whatever, you will just follow the status quo and then it's over and you get on with it, surely," Mrs Jackson said. "It's not a big deal unless you make it one".
Ms Collins, National MP for Clevedon, said she felt "pretty stink" when asked to sit in the second row, with men in front, at the opening of a new building at the state-funded Kelvin Rd School in Papakura last week.
The reason was that traditional Maori culture stipulated that women took a protected position behind men at welcomes. The school was 72 per cent Maori.
Ms Collins said that while she was happy for tikanga (Maori practice) to lead marae events, she was not happy to see it "impinge" in non-marae settings.
The Maori Party had called for a review of the use of tikanga in the state sector, a move supported by National. However, Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia doesn't see the need.
Waipareira Trust deputy chairwoman Naida Glavish said each gender had certain roles to play at powhiri "and there's respect by both genders in terms of those roles".
It was not always possible for a Maori world-view to match a feminist or equality-driven one.
"The 'front' and 'back' is not a Maori concept. It's only non-Maori women who see [status in seating] as a front and a back issue ... "
Mrs Jackson said part of respecting Maori culture was accepting it as it was.
