Awkward interrogates the legacy of New Zealand tourism through the lens of cultural appropriation. The term Maoriland—coined in the 1860s and formalised in 1901 by the Department of Tourism and Health Resorts—was a branding tool to attract visitors by showcasing Māori culture as a national asset.

While other nations promoted their landscapes, New Zealand marketed its indigenous people. European New Zealanders capitalised on this, building tourist ventures that commodified Māori identity.

Today, Maoriland survives as a hollow theme park—commercialised, monetised, and Europeanised. A culture taken, packaged, and sold for profit.