Leader
KA MATE! KA MATE!
We're going to die! We're going to die!
We were at war
Chorus
KA ORA, KA ORA!
We're going to live! We're going to live!
But now there is peace.
Leader
KA MATE! KA MATE!
We're going to die! We're going to die!
We thought we were all going to die
Chorus
KA ORA, KA ORA!
We're going to live! We're going to live!
but now we are safe
All together
TENEI TE TANGATA PU'RU-HURU
This is the man, so hairy
because our leader, so strong and masculine,
NA'A NEI TIKI MAI WHAKA-WHITI TE ...
who fetched, and made shine the
has unified us and brought back the sunny days of
... RA! UPANE! KA UPANE!
sun! Together! All together ... !
peace. We are all working in harmony, side by side,
A UPANE! KA UPANE!
Together! All together ... !
moving in unison like the hairs on our chief's legs
WHITI TE RA!
To sun shines!
to prolong these sunny days of peace.
HI ! Yeah!
The
All Black haka is an ancient haka, says Patricia
Burns (1983). It was modified in about 1810 by the warrior chief
Te Rauparaha of the Ngati Toa tribe when he added to the
end of a longer haka.
Margaret
Orbell (1967) pointed out that in the ancient usage of the Ka
mate haka "te tangata puhuruhuru" (the
hairy person) symbolised unified strength. And that "Whiti te ra"
(the shining sun) symbolised light, life, peace.
She
noted that the original version of the haka had "Upane, ka upane"
(together, all together). When men are united, all together, they
became the Hairy One, powerful enough to bring about the
triumph of life over death, that is, to transform war into peace.
Consequently this haka was performed to affirm the making of the
peace process between tribes.
"Ka mate, ka ora" conveys the feelings of the reunited groups: "We
thought we were all going to die, but now we are safe."
E
H Schnackenburg of Kawhaia (1948) says that this haka formerly
celebrated the triumph of Maui in capturing the sun, an allegorical
story telling of how the sunny days (times of peace) were too short
and the nights (periods of war) were too long. So as the sun came
up one morning, Maui lassoed it and slowed it down to make longer
days, the message being that a strong, brave, ingenious leader is
needed to ensure peaceful times.
Similarly,
the purpose of rugby football tours, in their pre-commercial days,
was to affirm the bonds of peace and unity between isolated regions
and countries.
The meaning
of this old haka was completely inverted by the Ngati Toa warlord
Te Rauparaha after he escaped retribution for slaughtering and eating
a group of innocent travellers.
Te Rauparaha is said to have been a boy when Captain James Cook was
in New Zealand. Although not of the highest rank, he rose to the leadership
of Ngati Toa because of his aggressiveness and his skill in battle.
At a
feast given by a friendly Waikato tribe, his young wife Marore was
accidently served up a meal without any chiefly garnishes. So Te Rauparaha
organised a war party and killed about 150 people of another Waikato
village to get human flesh to feed to his wife.
Not surprisingly
this got a violent reaction from other Waikato tribes. They besieged
Te Rauparaha, and by 1822 he was forced to take his people away from
Kawhia on a migration which was to eventually bring them to Kapiti
Island.
One
day Te Rauparaha and his gang had come up the Whanganui river and
were crossing the volcanic plateau heading for Kawhia. They detoured
to Lake Rotoaira to get some fish as food for the journey. On the
way there, his group spotted a number of Ngati Te Hou travellers,
and one of his party asked, "Why go to Rotoaira when food is here?"
They followed this suggestion, and attacked, killed and ate some,
but not all, of the Ngati Te Hou travellers.
The
survivors carried the news back to their tribe, who mounted a war
party to avenge this abomination. They were in hot pursuit when Te
Rauparaha reached the village of a tribe friendly to him.
He
hid in a pit for storing kumara (sweet potato) and waited in the
dark for his pursuers to find him.
He
heard sounds above and thought he was done for when the top of the
pit was opened up and sunshine flooded in. He was blinded and struggled
to see those about to slay him (I'm going to die!), when his sight
cleared and he instead saw the hairy legs of the local chief who
had hid him (I'm going to live!). Te Rauparaha climbed a ladder
up out of the pit and later performed his parody of the old haka,
changing the old phrase "Upane, ka upane" (together, all together)
to "Hupane, kaupane" (up the ladder).
Margaret
Orbell (2001) has commented on these different interpretations
of Ka Mate:
"About
Ka Mate: all the different interpretations of this have acquired
a life of their own, to such an extent that they could be regarded
(even those I don't agree with) as having their own validity. My
book Maori Poetry gives my own reading of this haka, including the
fact that I think the Te Rauparaha story is a later development.
I think this is true of the Maui one also.
But it is part of the power of Ka Mate that it does attract such
other interpretations, and personally I wouldn't now try to change
anyone's mind on the subject -- I'd just accept the plurality of
readings it receives."
Sorry,
I had to remove the video file I had here of the All Blacks performing
the haka.
It was costing me too much money: 5000 people a month were downloading
it.
But there are now new commercial sites with much better videos,
and also Flash movies.
You
need a fast broadband internet connection for these:-
- To learn how perform Ka Mate, this high-tech Flash
animation at
newzealand.com is
great.
- And to watch it being performed by All Blacks, this allblacks.com
page has Haka
videos.
But if you only have a 56k dialup internet connection, I have these
low-tech slide-show and diagrams for you.
Listen
to this MP3
(94
Kb, by the All Blacks), and click on the slide show buttons.
You can print these diagrams off
as a couple of A4 pages. But since Taine Randell's captaincy,
the All Blacks have used more chest-slapping in their performance.
I will look round and try to get a more up-to-date version than
this one from a 1960s book.......
Pronunciation
Maori
pronunciation is basically one syllable per vowel , ("Ka ma te", "ta nga
ta") with the vowels having a Latin rather than English sound. The 'wh'
is aspirated almost like an 'f' (f is good enough for most people). And
the final Hi! is pronounced 'Hee,' not 'High.'
PU'RU-HURU is the All Blacks' pronounciation of puhuruhuru NA'A is the All Blacks' pronounciation of Nana.
"Ere
you go forth to fight, display your legs to your women, young folk,
and old men in what is termed a war-dance. Your women will never
fail to observe the omens of the dance - the correctness of attitudes
or mistakes committed.
When your women are seen by you advancing with distorted faces,
...the rising of Tu-te-ihiihi, of Tu-te-wanawana (the war god),
you then know that your legs will assail the stars in the heavens
and the earth mother below.
But should you commit errors and not deport yourself correctly,
then assuredly you will not see your women dancing and grimacing,
because apprehension has seized them, for from them comes the blood
of the performing men that is to be borne into the fray and poured
forth upon the land. So then you are aware that an error has been
made in your dancing, therefore be cautious."
"More
than any aspect of Maori culture, this complex dance is an expression
of the passion, vigour and identity of the race. Haka is not merely
a pastime of the Maori but was also a custom of high social importance
in the welcoming and entertainment of visitors. Tribal reputation
rose and fell on their ability to perform the haka."
"The
Haka is a composition played by many instruments. Hands, feet, legs,
body, voice, tongue, and eyes all play their part in blending together
to convey in their fullness the challenge, welcome, exultation,
defiance or contempt."
There
have been NZ rugby hakas since 1884. The Maori players performed hakas
on the field and to attract crowds and make their tours profitable.
1884
- A New Zealand team in New South Wales used a Maori war cry to
introduce itself to its opponents before each of its matches.
A
Sydney newspaper reported: "The sound given in good time and
union by 18 pairs of powerful lungs was sometimes tremendous. The
NSW men declared it was hardly fair of the visitors to frighten
them out of their wits before the game began."
1888
- A New Zealand "Native" team performed an Ake Ake Kia Kaha,
For ever! And ever! be strong! haka
before the first match of their tour of Britain. The team had to
pay its own way and the pre match haka, using native mats and other
traditional costume, was a money-making drawcard.
1903
- the New Zealand team in Australia (the first to play an official
test match) used a mocking haka, Tupoto koe, Kangaru!
Look out, Kangaroo!
1905
- "The Originals," the 1905 All Black team in Britain popularised
the Ka Mate haka there. They performed it before the
famous Welsh test, "The war cry went well," wrote the Lyttelton
Times, "And the crowd listened and watched in pleased silence,
and thundered their approval at its close.
"Then the Welsh team started their national anthem. Forty thousand
Welsh voices caught up the noble strain, and from every comer of
the ground rose the deep, swelling, heart-stirring chorus 'Mae
hen wlad fy nhadau' The land of my Fathers.
1913
- the All Black tour of America. "The team was given a big welcome
on arrival in San Francisco and before disembarking they gave their
haka, which had the crowd yelling their approval."
1914
- By the time of the First World War, the Ka Mate haka was established
as part of top New Zealand rugby.
1924 - The "Invincibles" touring team in Britain had their own haka,
Ko
Niu Tireni written
for them during their sea voyage by Judge Acheson of the the Native
Land Court and Wiremu Rangi of Gisborne. Lardelli's Kapa
o Pango is derived from this haka.
Kia
whakangawari au i a hau. I au-e! Hei! Ko Niu Tireni e haruru nei. Ka tu te ihiihi.
Ka tu te wanawana
... full haka
Get
ready for the clash.
Yeah! Ha!
New Zealand is rumbling here.
Face
up to the fear
Fight the terror
1926
- the New Zealand Maori team further popularised the Ka Mate haka
during their tour of France, England, Wales and Canada.
1928
- the All Black team touring South Africa did not include any Maori
players, but nevertheless the Ka Mate haka was performed before
seven matches, including three of the tests "and as usual was
well received."
1987
- The haka began to be performed regularly in NZ too, under the
leadership of Buck Shelford (red arrow).
"Buck was the greatest haka-leader of them all," said Zinzan
Brooke. "He meant every word of it and he made every word and
gesture stick." (Previously the haka had been performed in NZ
only against South Africa for the 3rd test in 1921, and at all tests
against Scotland in 1975.)
1991
- the New Zealand Women's team were asked for a haka at the World
Cup, and responded with part of the men's haka. Realising this was
not really appropriate, the 1994 team obtained permission from the
Ngati Porou to use their women's haka, Ka Panapana. Here
they perform it at the 1998 World Cup.
A ra ra!
Ka panapana,
A ha ha
Ka rekareka tonu taku ngakau
Ki nga mana ririki
i pohatu whakapiri
Kia haeramai te takitini,
Kia haeramai te takimano,
Kia pare-taitokotia ki Rawhiti ...
A ra ra,
it is throbbing!
A ha ha!
My heart is throbbing with delight
for the common people,
like stones stuck together
They've come in their multitudes
They've come in their thousands
and alighted upon the Eastern sea ...
2005
-
the All Blacks performed Kapa O Pango for the first time,
using phrases taken from the ancient haka Ruaumoko, and from
the 1924 All Blacks' haka Ko Niu Tirini. This haka compares
their driving energy to the elemental forces that continue to shape
New Zealand. Full
details here
And of course just about every New Zealand high school 1st XV do their
own unique haka before any important inter-college rugby match these
days.
On
the Ball
Written in Palmerston North in 1887. Sung a lot
in NZ during the 1956 Springbok tour.
My
Old Man's an All Black "Fee-fee, Fi-fi, Fo-fo, Fum -- There's no
Horis in this scrum!" The Howard Morrison Quartet first sung
this in 1960 when the ABs couldn't take their Maori players to South
Africa.
Rugby,
Racing and Beer "Because of your great parentage, You have
a national heritage, Of Rugby, Racing and Beer."
Pokarekare
Ana
This song has heaps of emotion and everybody
knows it, so belt out the first verse and chorus to show how much
you love our national game. "Ka Mate ahau, I te aroha e."
Big
Bad Don Don Clarke won an All Black test match
with a goal kick from his own 25.
Ferdinand With this song, Taranaki supporters gave
their team the courage to hold the Ranfurly Shield against 29 challenges.
Te
Rauparaha was the son of Werawera, of Ngati Toa, and his second wife,
Parekowhatu (Parekohatu), of Ngati Raukawa. He is said to have been
a boy when Captain James Cook was in New Zealand. Although not of the
highest rank, he rose to the leadership of Ngati Toa because of his
aggressiveness and his skill in battle.
At a
feast given by a friendly Waikato tribe, his young wife Marore was
accidently served up a meal without any chiefly garnishes. So Te Rauparaha
organised a war party and killed about 150 people of another Waikato
village to get human flesh to feed to his wife. This got a violent
reaction from other Waikato tribes. They besieged Te Rauparaha, and
by 1822 he was forced to take his people away from Kawhia on a migration
which was to eventually bring them to Kapiti Island.
In
1827, European ships started trading at Kapiti. Te Rauparaha's power
over his allied tribes rested on his control of the trade in arms
and ammunition.
Kapiti Island,
1844
Using this
new technology, he spread terror throughout the Cook Strait region.
Captives were taken to Kapiti to scrape flax to be traded for muskets,
powder and tobacco.
He also wanted to control the supply of greenstone, and the South Island,
where greenstone was to be found, was open to conquest as the tribes
there had not yet acquired guns. In about 1827 Te Rauparaha took a war
party across Cook Strait, where several Rangitane pa were taken.
Te
Rauparaha resisted European settlement in those areas he claimed he
had not sold. A major clash came in 1843 when Te Rauparaha and Te
Rangihaeata prevented the survey of the Wairau plains. In the crisis
that followed Te Rauparaha stayed on the defensive. By avoiding war
with the settlers, he contributed greatly to its peaceful resolution.
On
16 May 1846 there were again rumours of an imminent assault on Wellington.
The new governor, George Grey, decided that Te Rauparaha could not
be trusted and arrested him. The Ngati Toa people never fully understood
the reason for the warrior chief's arrest.
In January
1848 Grey finally released Te Rauparaha, after 18 months of imprisonment.
At the time of his release, Te Rauparaha did not know that the sale
of Ngati Toa land at Wairau had been a condition of his being freed.
Grey
had acquired the land which Te Rauparaha had never sold. It was Te
Rauparaha's son Tamihana, who had signed over the Wairau to Grey,
having been informed that only the sale of the Wairau would ensure
Te Rauparaha's freedom. Te Rauparaha died at Otaki on 27th November
1849.
Summarised from the Dictionary of NZ Biography, and from Burns. FULL
DNZB ARTICLE
Te Rauparaha webpage
There
is a very beautiful yet quick-loading Te
Rauparaha webpage in te reo Mäori on the TKI website, if
TKI will allow you entry to
it.
From
Patricia Burns (1983). She also describes the story
associated with these words.
Aha
ha!
Kikiki kakaka kauana!
Kei waniwania taku tara.
Kei tarawahia, kei te rua i te kerokero!
He pounga rahui te uria ka rarapa;
Ketekete kau ana to peru kairiri
Mau au e koro e -----
Hi! Ha!
Ka wehi au ka matakana,
Kowhai te tangata kia rere ure?
Tirohanga nga rua rerarera
Nga rua kuri kakanui i raro!
Aha ha!
Ka Mate! Ka Mate!
Ka ora! Ka ora!
Tenei te tangata puhuruhuru
Nana nei i tiki mai whakawhiti te ra!
Hupane kaupane!
Hupane kaupane
Whiti te ra!
References:
Alan
ArmstrongMaori games and hakas (sic) : instructions,
words, and actions (A.H. & A.W. Reed, 1964 )
Patricia
Burns , Te Rauparaha, A New Perspective (Penguin, 1983)
pp 44-48.
Te
Hamana Mahuika et al. He Haka Taparahi. Men's ceremonial
dance poetry, Editor, Te Kapunga Dewes. (Vict. Univ. of Wgtn,
Dept of Anthropology, 1972)
Tuta
Nihoniho
(1850-1914) Nga pakanga ki te tai rawhiti 1865-71 : me nga korero
mo uenuku. Narrative of the fighting on the East Coast 1865-71 : with
a monograph on bush fighting (Dominion
Museum, 1913) Reprinted
online
One
day Te Rauparaha and his gang had come up the Whanganui river and
were crossing the volcanic plateau heading for Kawhia. They detoured
to Lake Rotoaira to get some fish as food for the journey. On the
way there, his group spotted a number of Ngati Te Hou travellers,
and one of his party asked, "Why go to Rotoaira when food is here?"
They followed this suggestion, and attacked, killed and ate some,
but not all, of the Ngati Te Hou travellers. 
A
Sydney newspaper reported: "The sound given in good time and
union by 18 pairs of powerful lungs was sometimes tremendous. The
NSW men declared it was hardly fair of the visitors to frighten
them out of their wits before the game began." 
1905
- "The Originals," the 1905 All Black team in Britain popularised
the Ka Mate haka there. They performed it before the
famous Welsh test, "The war cry went well," wrote the Lyttelton
Times, "And the crowd listened and watched in pleased silence,
and thundered their approval at its close.
On
16 May 1846 there were again rumours of an imminent assault on Wellington.
The new governor, George Grey, decided that Te Rauparaha could not
be trusted and arrested him. The Ngati Toa people never fully understood
the reason for the warrior chief's arrest.