A haka is a traditional dance form of the Māori of New Zealand. It is a posture dance with shouted accompaniment, performed by a group.
Although the use of a haka by the All Blacks (New Zealand Rugby) has made one type of haka familiar, it has led to misconceptions. Haka are not exclusively war dances, and nor are they only performed by men. Some are performed by women, others by mixed groups, and some simple haka are performed by children. Haka are performed for various reasons: for amusement, as a hearty welcome to distinguished guests, or to acknowledge great achievements or occasions. Various actions are employed in the course of a performance, including facial contortions such as showing the whites of the eyes and the poking out of the tongue, and a wide variety of vigorous body actions such as slapping the hands against the body and stamping of the feet. As well as chanted words, a variety of cries and grunts are used. Haka may be understood as a kind of symphony in which the different parts of the body represent many instruments. The hands, arms, legs, feet, voice, eyes, tongue and the body as a whole combine to express courage, annoyance, joy or other feelings relevant to the purpose of the occasion.
Haka are sometimes popularly thought of solely as war dances, but individual haka have different purposes, not all related to war. War haka, which had their own term, 'peruperu' were originally performed by warriors before a battle, proclaiming their strength and prowess in order to intimidate the opposition. Today, haka constitute an integral part of formal or official welcome ceremonies for distinguished visitors or foreign dignitaries, serving to impart a sense of the importance of the occasion.
Haka & Gender
Many haka are performed exclusively by men which has sometimes led to the misconception that only men may perform haka. However there are a minority of haka which are performed predominantly by women, one of the most well-known women's haka being "Ka Panapana". In many haka though, the female role, if any, is limited to providing support by singing in the background.
Women were strongly involved in the traditional origin of haka. According to Māori mythology, the sun god, Tama-nui-te-rā, had two wives, the Summer maid, Hine-raumati, and the Winter maid, Hine-takurua. The child of Tama-nui-te-ra and Hine-raumati, Tāne-rore is credited with the origin of the dance.
Types of Haka
The various types of haka include whakatu waewae, tutu ngarahu and peruperu. The peruperu is characterised by leaps during which the legs are pressed under the body. In former times, the peruperu was performed before a battle in order to invoke the god of war and to discourage and frighten the enemy. It involved fierce facial expressions and grimaces, poking out of the tongue, eye bulging, grunts and cries, and the waving of weapons. If the haka was not performed in total unison, this was regarded as a bad omen for the battle. Often, warriors went naked into battle, apart from a plaited flax belt around the waist. The aim of the warriors was to kill all the members of the enemy war party, so that no survivors would remain to undertake revenge.
The group of people performing a haka is referred to as a kapa haka (kapa meaning row or rank).
The tutu ngarahu also involves jumping, but from side to side, while in the whakatu waewae no jumping occurs. Another kind of haka performed without weapons is the ngeri, the purpose of which was to motivate the warriors psychologically. The movements are very free, and each performer is expected to be expressive of their feelings. Manawa wera haka were generally associated with funerals or other occasions involving death. Like the ngeri they were performed without weapons, and there was little or no choreographed movement.
The most well-known haka is "Ka Mate", attributed to Te Rauparaha, war leader of the Ngāti Toa tribe. The Ka Mate haka is classified as a "Haka Taparahi" - a ceremonial haka. The "Ka Mate" haka is about the cunning ruse Te Rauparaha used to outwit his enemies, and may be interpreted as 'a celebration of the triumph of life over death' (Pōmare 2006).
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