Hårstrån haka
Hon hade rakat bort allt hår; det enda som fanns kvar var små stickiga hårstrån som påminde mig om fars haka. She had shaved off her hair; all that remained were tiny scratchy hairs that reminded me of Father’s chin. Learn the roots of this ritual that hails from New Zealand. As an American, I never learned very much about Māori culture from our public school curriculum. And, of course, all of those taped dances are modern interpretations.
So, here in this article, I want to explore the history of the haka as a part of Māori culture and how its representation today has altered the popular conception of the dance. The haka is a term for a ceremonial performance or dance that originates with the Māori.
That means, unlike my initial conception, the haka is not necessarily a dance only for war time—but that is where it started! Firstly, it was done to scare their opponents; the warriors would use aggressive facial expressions such as bulging eyes and poking of their tongues. They would grunt and cry in an intimidating way, while beating and waving their weapons. Dust off exclusive book deals and tales from the past when you join The Archive 's newsletter.
They were heavily choreographed and performed in time. It gave them courage and strength. I mean… you try to watch this performance without getting riled up. Te Rauparaha created the haka after he narrowly escaped death at the hands of enemy tribes from Ngāti Maniapoto and Waikato by hiding in a dark food storage pit. When he came out of it, he was greeted by light and a friendly tribe chief.
A History of the Haka, a Traditional Māori Dance
I might die! I may live! Non-Māori players were also taught how to perform it properly. Generally, however, a Māori player is still the leader, or kaea. The assimilation of Māori culture into wider culture has been a concern of indigenous leaders. Since the s, the Te matatini Kapa Haka Aotearoa festival has celebrated many forms of the haka dance. In , the Māori and European arrivals signed the Treaty of Waitangi. Some Māori believed they were giving up government over their lands but retaining the right to manage their own affairs.
And although Europeans placed greater value on the written word, to the Māori, as a society that had long valued the spoken word and oral tradition, what someone said they would do was just as important as how they wrote it down. The intention, explanation, and understanding of this document has been a problem since its inception. A new film, The Convert , takes place just before this treaty, in , during serious early resistance to oppressive colonialization.
The Convert is the most authentic depiction of this era to ever grace the big screen. Patricia Tearapo Wallace, who specializes in pre-colonial Māori kākahu and textiles.
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It should come as no surprise that the Peruperu Haka as performed by both of the warring Māori tribes in this film is also incredibly historically accurate, and its presentation is cinematic like no other. The depiction is epic and unmissable. Photo Credit: Wikipedia. Related The Colonization of Australia. I also want to get the Early Bird Books newsletter featuring great deals on ebooks. The Convert released wide July Cultural History.
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