HAKA

The conventional forms of European dancing were unknown to the Maori who evolved a number of rhythmic activities best described as posture dances. In their more vigorous expression these took on the character of a strenuous exercise and were danced with remarkable vigour and enthusiasm. On the other hand certain posture dances, such as those performed by well-trained young women, were marked by grace of action and appropriate song.

According to Maori legend, posture dancing had its origin in the coming of Hine-raumati, the Summer Maid, whose presence on calm, warm days was revealed in a curious quivering appearance in the air. This was the Haka of Tane-rore, he who was born of the Summer Maid and claimed Ra, the sun, as his father. Another variant interprets the phenomenon as the Dancing of the Summer Maid, and it is personified in Pare-arohi, who appears in the fifth month, and who mated with Rehua, who represents the heat of summer.

The haka was danced without weapons, in contrast to the war dances (tutu ngaruhu or peruperu) which were danced with spears, clubs, or other weapons in hand. The haka, which expressed a variety of emotions such as joy, anger, and sorrow, called for exceptional rhythmical skill. Many were marked by a curious, rapid vibration of the hands; other motions included a stamping in unison, facial distortion (protruding tongue and eyeballs), rhythmical out-thrusts and movements of the arms, as well as a swaying of the body. Haka performed in a sitting position were as a rule of a milder character, with swaying motions from the arms and bodies. Every haka had its expert leader who gave time to the music and the motions of the dance.

Haka Poi

Some haka such as the poi (ball) were performed only by women. The poi, which was attached to a long string held in the right hand, was twirled and beaten back with the left hand. Various movements were made over the shoulder, to the sides, the thighs, the knees, and the head, the poi being kept twirling in perfect time to the songs sung by the leaders. Buck states that the haka poi performed by a well trained team of young women is the most graceful of all Polynesian dances.

The Maori had a habit of composing songs and haka to mark incidents which, by European standards, would appear trivial in themselves. Elsdon Best lists haka composed for such reasons as—

• Reception of native visitors;

• Reception of Government officials;

• An insulting remark made by a tribesman;

• Ill-treatment of a woman married to a member of another tribe;

• A faithless wife;

• A trivial oversight in apportioning food supplies; and so on.

Perhaps the most famous haka chorus of all is that said to have been composed by the great warrior chief Te Rauparaha. Hard pressed by his pursuers, he took refuge in the pa of the hairy chief Te Wharerangi whose wife hid him in a kumara pit. When Te Rauparaha safely emerged from his shelter, he contrasted the sunlight (life) with the darkness (death) of the pit and, in a stanza which became the haka chorus to Te Ngeri a Te Rauparaha (War Chant of Te Rauparaha), he exulted in his deliverance:

Ka Mate! Ka Mate!
Ka Ora! Ka Ora!
Tenei te tangata puhuruhuru,
Nana nei i tiki mei
I whakawhiti te ra!
 Upane! Upane!
Upane! Ka upane!
Whiti te ra!
(It is death! It is death!
It is life! It is life!
This is the hairy person
Who caused the sun to shine!
One upward step! Another upward step!
One last upward step! Then step forth!
Into the sun that shines!)

All Blacks' Haka

From the time when the first New Zealand Rugby Union representatives, the “Native” team of 1888–89, toured the British Isles, the players delighted the crowds with their haka given prior to each game. It is not clear what their haka was, but the All Blacks of 1905 gave the haka of Te Rauparaha. The famous “Invincibles” of 1924–25 had their own haka, written during the voyage to England by Judge Acheson, of the Native Land Court, and Wiremu Rangi, of Gisborne. There were two parts, the second usually being omitted.

Haka - First Part

Leader: Kia whaka ngawari au ia hau.

Team: I … au … E … Hei …

Leader: Ko Niu Tireni e haruru nei.

Team: Au … au … aue … ha … hei.

Leader: Ko Niu Tireni e haruru nei.

Team: Au … au … aue … ha … hei.

Leader: A … haha.

Team: Katu te ihi i hi.
Katu te wanawana
Kirunga te rangi
E tu iho nei.
Au au au.

Leader: Let us prepare ourselves for the fray.

Team: We are ready.

Leader: The New Zealand storm is about to break.

Team: The sound of the breaking.

Leader: The New Zealand storm waxes fiercer.

Team: The height of the storm.

Leader: Now then.

Team: We shall stand as children of the sun.
We shall climb to the heavens in exultation of spirit.
We shall attain the Zenith.
The power! The power!

There is no “official” haka for All Black teams, but Te Rauparaha's “Ka Mate” is generally favoured though sometimes there have been variations. The 1963–64 All Black team gave the standard version of this haka during their tour of Britain.

by Alexander Hare McLintock, C.B.E., M.A., DIP.ED. (N.Z.), PH.D.(LOND.), Parliamentary Historian, Wellington.

• The Maori, Best, Elsdon (1924)
• The Coming of the Maori, Buck, Peter (1949)
• King Potatau, Jones, Pei Te Hurunui (1959).