WELLINGTON, March 28 — Popular sportswear brand Hoka has been accused of failing to acknowledge the Māori origins of its name, sparking criticism from Indigenous intellectual property experts in New Zealand.

The French-American company, known for its running shoes, derives its name from the Māori word "hoka,” meaning "to fly,” and its logo features a bird in flight.

"If they don’t want to associate themselves as being a Māori word – they need to stop using it,” Lynell Tuffery Huria, a leading Māori patent attorney and expert on Indigenous intellectual property, said in a report by The Guardian.

Some Hoka shoe models, such as the Arahi and Hopara, also use Māori names, further fuelling criticism over the brand’s lack of acknowledgment of its cultural origins.

Hoka initially acknowledged its name’s Māori roots, but after Deckers Brands acquired it in 2012, references to the Māori language were removed from its website.

A 2019 Hoka video featured a Māori musician teaching the correct pronunciation of the brand’s name for Māori Language Week, but recent company videos mispronounce both "Hoka” and its Māori-named shoe styles.

The company did not responded to requests for comment regarding the controversy over its use of the word "hoka.”

Experts warn that brands using Māori words and symbols without respecting tikanga, or cultural protocols, risk undermining Māori heritage and facing backlash.

"We want to share our culture, we want to share our language, we want to share our narratives ... but it needs to be respected and protected in a manner that’s consistent with how we view it,” Tuffery Huria said.

In recent years, global brands have been criticised for misusing Māori culture, including Fernando Alonso’s clothing line in 2020 and a UK carpet company in 2021.