I am often asked by my students to teach them the Haka, as soon as they find out I was born in New Zealand.
When I was young, we learned the Haka and other Maori culture in school. It was part and parcel of our school education, as well as singing the national anthem before class.
Obviously many years have passed since the last time I did the Haka, so when one of my classes asked me how to do it, I had to do a little bit of research myself. What I learned about the origins and forms of the Haka, is really very interesting.
Contrary to popular belief (something which is reinforced by the ferocious Haka that the New Zealand All Blacks perform before every one of their rugby matches), is that the Haka is not only a war dance, but also a ceremonial greeting or a dance of celebration. It is a way of powerfully demonstrating the Maori spirit and personality, through complete body movement and facial expression.
So, it’s not only a man thing …
But also a woman thing …
Gender-specific roles are prevalent throughout Maori culture and for very good reason. It is also the same for indigenous Australian tribes, where women and men are separated or given specific roles in ceremonies and rituals. The reason behind this is to perfectly combine the “different energies” of male and female.
Some of the people in the photos above are wearing Moko (facial tattoos) and the Hei-tiki (pendant / talisman).
A short digression: even though the Tiki is today manufactured and sold to tourists in New Zealand, the original Maori Tiki had and still has a strong spiritual significance. To be able to wear a Tiki meant that the wearer had the power and presence of his or her ancestors around their neck. That person had to be stable, of sound mind, of great character, e.g. loyal. They were the protector and keeper of their tribe’s spirits. For the Maori, the Tiki represented many things: on the one hand, the first ‘earthly’ man, and on the other, an out of this world being, who carried the knowledge of the universe within.
Horatio Robley, an English soldier who lived in New Zealand and was fascinated by Maori culture and Moko, believed that the Tiki shared similarities to Buddha and that perhaps there was a forgotten link between the Maori and the Buddhist religion. (But it could also mean that the concept of a holy man, woman or person was a global phenomenon and not just specific to one region or people.)
There are two types of Haka, each having some variations within them:
- Peruperu ( war dance )
- Ka Mate ( ceremonial )
The story of the Ka Mate Haka focuses on a Maori chief named Te Rauparaha of the Ngati Toa tribe. In the early 1800s, Te Rauparaha was being hunted by the Waikato and Ngati Maniapoto tribes. To save his skin, he sought refuge with Te Whareangi, a local chief. Te Whareangi allowed Te Rauparaha to lie inside his kumara pit and for his wife, Te Rangikoaea, to sit on top.
This action essentially saved Te Rauparaha’s life. Apparently the female power of Te Rangikoaea neutralised the spells that the warring tribes cast against Te Rauparaha. In the end, they couldn’t find him! As Te Rauparaha waited, he composed the Ka Mate, believing that he was about to die. But his chant soon changed into one of jubilation when he realised that he was going to live another day.
Here is what is said in Maori:
“Ka mate, ka mate
Ka ora, ka ora
Tenei te tangata puhuruhuru
Nana i tiki mai whaka whiti te ra
Upane, upane
Upane kapane
Whiti te – ra!”
Here is what it means in English:
“I die, I die, I live, I live
Look there, the hairy man
Who causes the sun to shine.
One step upwards,
Another step upwards
The sun shines!”
One could be forgiven for thinking this sounds like a shamanic ceremony where an initiate undergoes a transformation, losing their ‘old self and through their ‘death’, enters a ‘new birth’ or ‘new consciousness’. That a woman sits on top of the chief, protecting him, can also be seen as part of the ceremony where female power is necessary to ‘give birth’ to something new. Without the ‘Effect’ or ‘female energy’, a Cause or ‘male energy’ cannot come to life.
In the Maori lyrics the phrase “whiti te ra” is repeated and translated into the English “the sun shines”. Does the word ‘Ra’ mean ‘sun’ in Maori? This would be quite interesting to know, considering that in the Egyptian Pantheon, Ra was the sun god. Illumination is also a typical end result of an initiation or of a ceremony of this art. It could be this what the Maori chief is talking about in the song.
But, let’s stick with the official version.
There are also some similarities that exist between the movements or positions that the Maori do in the Haka and the movements or positions of the Nordic Runes.
The Runes are commonly known as an ancient alphabet, but they were also poses and holds for stimulating, awakening, triggering, conserving, protecting and concentrating spiritual, physical and intellectual energies.
Each ‘letter’ in the runic alphabet could be ‘held’ in its position in order to activate a particular type of ‘energy’. Today, we can see such ‘letters’ and ‘poses’ performed in yoga or martial arts routines.
Even a Jumping Jack, the most basic of exercises, is a variant of the Man, Hagal and Tyr runes.
To finish off, the Haka is a lot more than what you see at All Black games. Maori spirituality is sophisticated and a branch of what was once a global ‘nature’ religion, sharing the same practices, belief systems and traditions.