From the MTV website: April 29 -- While the Spice Girls continue to win new fans across the world, they've picked up a few new enemies in New Zealand.

The pop outfit reportedly offended the Maori people of New Zealand by offering their version of the Ka Mate haka, a traditional male war dance. The dance has reportedly been adopted by a rugby team as a way to intimidate opponents, and the Spicy ones were offered a tutorial in the dance by two ruggers during a promotional stop in Bali, Indonesia.

The Girls then reportedly performed the dance in front of some 100 onlookers, infuriating Maori officials who see the dance as a tradition reserved for men.

"It is totally inappropriate," Joe Harawira of the Urban Maorian Authorities told reporters. "It is not acceptable in our culture, and especially by girlie pop stars from another culture."

The Spice Girls' manager, Bart Cools, reportedly told Radio New Zealand that the band meant no harm in trying out the dance, and that they were merely following the lead of their rugby player friends.