Sunday, November 05, 2006

New Zealand HAKA!

Mention New Zealand to anyone and most likely, they will think of the All Blacks, New Zealand's rugby team.

The thing that most people will associate with the All Blacks is their haka, the war dance they perform before every match.
Haka is the generic name for all Maori dance. However today, haka is defined as that part of the Maori dance where the men are to the fore with the women lending vocal support in the back. It is used by the All Blacks and other New Zealand teams as a challenge, to intimidate their opponents before the game commences.
The following is the official version of the meaning of the chant used by the All Blacks.

Ka mate, Ka mate! Ka ora, Ka ora!
Ka mate, Ka mate! Ka ora, Ka ora!
Tenei te tangata puhuruhuru
Nana i tiki mai
Whakawhiti te ra!
A hupane, kaupane
A hupane, kaupane whiti te ra!
Hi!

I die, I die! I live, I live!
I die, I die! I live, I live!
This is the hairy man
Who fetches the Sun
And caused it to shine again!
One upward step, another upwards step
And upward step, another the Sun shines!
Hi!

But there is another version being told. In that unofficial version, the Haka tells the story of a Maori Chief who had killed a British Officer and was escaping from the troops sent to capture him. Running into a village, the chief could not find a suitable hiding place. The only one available was under the skirt of a woman (skirts were huge back then). As he hid under there, with the troops swarming around him, the chief thought to himself, "I'm going to die, I'm going to die!" Then he looked up, and thought, "I want to live, I want to live!'

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