The Pohatu character is said to be a stone spirit

"We wanted to make sure the Maori people would be interested in participating in such a process," said Brian Soerenson, the Lego representative at the New Zealand meeting.

"I felt it was a very positive meeting, both on the code of conduct issue and also in the more broad discussions of the possibilities of co-operation in the future, but there has been no decision on this matter yet."

Maui Solomon, the lawyer who wrote the original letter of complaint to Lego, thinks the meeting was a step forward.

"We're trying to put the record straight about the culture and here's a major international company that's out there projecting a different perception and image," said Mr Solomon.

"Now, if we can get that right, then you've got something really powerful that's going to satisfy the commercial market and more importantly, the cultural market."

'Menagerie of toys'

Mr Solomon and the groups he represents objected to the inappropriate use of Maori words, and the way the game mixed together strands of many cultures.

Roma Hippolite: Wants a code of conduct (photo courtesy Ngati Koata Trust)

"This was what Lego was doing, taking bits and pieces and sticking it all together to make a bit of a menagerie of toys, which projected what they saw as sort of wonderful kind of culture of good versus evil," Mr Solomon said.

Removing Maori culture entirely from the international toy market is not the New Zealand group's aim.

"We would want to have a code of conduct; we know that other indigenous people around the world would want to have a code of conduct," said Roma Hippolite, the chief executive officer of Ngati Koata Trust, one of the groups at the Lego meeting.

"It's not to protect and isolate but just to make sure that appropriate recognition is given where due."

Having Maori culture represented correctly could be a powerful tool for Maori, according to Mr Hippolite.

"If an agreement can be made and the stories and the names are used appropriately so you couldn't put the name tohunga [a spiritual advisor and healer] where it didn't belong, then there can be a whole generation of kids around the world that get to know and understand about things Maori."