Leilani Perese of the Hurricanes Poua leads a haka during the round two Super Rugby Aupiki match between Hurricanes Poua and Matatu at Sky Stadium on March 09, 2024 in Wellington, New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images
Leilani Perese of the Hurricanes Poua leads a haka during the round two Super Rugby Aupiki match between Hurricanes Poua and Matatu at Sky Stadium on March 09, 2024 in Wellington, New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images
Before the win, the Poua led their haka with new remarks for the Government.
The haka says, “Aotearoa maranga mai rā, anei a Huruhurutearangi. Whatungarongaro te kāwana, toitū Te Tiriti, toitū Poua.”, “Aotearoa rise up, here is Huruhurutearangi (Māori goddess of wind). Governments are temporary, Te Tiriti will endure, Poua will endure.”
The team removed the words kāwana kaki whero, which have been interpreted as a reference to ‘redneck government’.
But broadcaster Julian Wilcox (Ngāpuhi) is fed up with people who have little to no grasp of the language, slandering the side.
“Ka nui taku hōhā ki te iwi kahore e mōhio ana ki tō tātou reo, e whakatohunga mai ana i ō rātou whakaaro e pā ana ki ēnei mea pēnei me te haka. Kua roa e maimoatia ana e Te Ao Māori, engari e whakataruna ana ngā iwi nei, he mātau nō rātou ki tēnei mahi, ki te haka.”
(I’m pretty annoyed at those who don’t know our language, who are giving us their expert opinion on matters like this haka. This has been long been cherished by Māori but these people are acting as if they have a great knowledge on what a haka is,) he says.
Poua haka during the Super Rugby Aupiki game against Blues Women at Sky Stadium in Wellington, March 11 2023. Photo / Marty Melville / www.photosport.nz
The haka backlash
Last week, the side faced a backlash from management and MPs over the start of their haka, which laid down a challenge to the Government and expressed the feeling of the players about the political climate.
The haka’s references to a “redneck Government” and the mixing of politics and sports left some critics arguing whether what was said was an appropriate issue to address on the sports field.
Ngāti Porou descendant and champion of te reo Māori, Rhonda Tibble, says the perspective of people is really where people should be looking, not the actions of the players.
“Ko te hē kē, ko te tirohanga a te tangata me te mōhio anō hoki [ki] te whakapakeketanga mai o te tangata mātakitaki, me tōna ahurea kei muri i a ia, tērā ngā mōwhiti e tirohia ana ki te mahi kei mua i te ihu. Ka mutu, koirā kē tēnei, ko te raweketanga o ahurea kē e meangia ana me pēnei, me pērā. Mō tō rātou ahurea, ka tika. Engari mō tēnei ahurea o te ao haka, ko wai koe?”
(The real fault lies ays within the perspective of people, bearing in mind that when a person is growing into adulthood when they witness things, their culture is there behind them. That is the lens they look through when watching things. Furthermore, this is another thing, when another culture tampers with things and says it should be like this or that, for their culture it’s fine, but for this culture of haka, who are you?), she says.
Leilani Perese of the Hurricanes Poua leads her team's first controversial haka during the Super Rugby Aupiki match against Chiefs Manawa. Photo / Martin Hunter / action press
Haka a part of society
Haka has traditionally been used in sport, especially rugby, to lay a challenge for battle before competing against another team, and is often what identifies people from Aotearoa.
Wilcox says the haka is an integral part of Kiwi society and should not be cherrypicked depending on the message portrayed.
“Kia hoki atu au ki te ia, ki te iho o te kōrero mō te haka i mahia e rātou. He whakapuaki i ō rātou whakaaro mō Te Tiriti me Te [W]hakaputanga, he whakapuaki i ō rātou whakaaro mō ngā kaupapa o te wā, he whakapūmau i tō rātou arohanui ki te reo me ōna tikanga. Mehemea he Māori tātou, mā hea mai i ērā kaupapa katoa e Māori ai te Māori i roto i te ao e huri āmiomio nei.”
(Let me go back to the meaning of the haka they did. It is an expression of their thoughts on Te Tiriti and Te [w]Hakaputanga, it is an expression of their views and thoughts of this current moment, but also it’s an expression of their undying love for the language and customs. If we are all Māori ...)
“Puta ake rātou i tēnei whenua, mā hea rātou e mōhio ai, he Aotearoa rātou, kua tīmata rātou ki te haka. Nō reira i runga i tērā whakaaro, kaua rawa e aro nui atu ki te haka i te wā e pai ai ki a koe, i te wā o te kirihimete, i te wā rānei ka haere koe ki tarāwāhi. Engari kia ū tonu ki te haka i ngā wā o te pai, i ngā wā kahore e pai ki a koe. Mā reira ka ngoto iho ngā kōrero me ngā taonga a ō tātou mātua tūpuna ki roto i te whatumanawa o te tangata.”
(If they [Kiwis] are to go overseas, how do they identify themselves as from being from Aotearoa - they do a haka. So with that don’t ever just gravitate to the haka when it suits you, you know Christmas time, when you go overseas, but stay firm to the haka whether it suits you or it doesn’t. From there the gifts and traditions of our ancestors will be engrained into the hearts of people,) he says.
The first haka
Historically, the first haka was performed by women to enact revenge against a man named Kae at the request of Tinirau. Hineteiwaiwa requested other women to perform by her side in entertaining Kae, who was not known to them by sight, rather by a physical feature.
The women performed a haka, which ultimately made Kae laugh, and led to his capture and death.
Tibble says these stories are engrained into Māori knowledge and the backlash faced by the Hurricanes Poua is uncalled for.
“Ko te mate kē me titiro ki tēnei, kei te pai mō te Ō Pango ki te kōrero mō te “tēnei te tangata pūhuruhuru nāna i tiki mai whakawhiti te rā.” Ko taua pūhuruhuru, ko Hine tonu. Ko wai tēnei? Ko Hine kei te kōrero. Ko wai a Hine i roto i te ao kapa, i te ao haka? Nāna tonu te ranga tuatahi i tū mai ki te haka, mō Tinirau te kaupapa, ki te ngaki utu.”
(The real problem is we need to look at it like this. It’s all good and well for the All Blacks to talk about the hairy person who fetched me and caused the sun to shine.” That hairy person was a woman. Who is this, a woman who is talking. Who are women in the kapa haka world? They were the first to haka for Tinirau and enact revenge.) she says.
Wilcox further adds that he is supportive of the side and doing the haka.
“Ko ahau tēnei e mea atu ana ki te kapa rā, e pai ana, mahia te mahi, i runga i te arohanui ki ngā mea e arohanuitia ana e koutou. Ko ētahi ka parawhiuwhiu kōrero mai me te kī ake, ehara i te mea nā te haka rātou i toa ai. Āe, i hinga rātou, i pīwai rātou i tētahi kēmu, ka toa anō hoki rātou i tētahi kēmu, engari o roto i te whatumanawa o te tangata kua wikitōria anō rātou. He aha ai? I te mea, i whai hononga rātou ki te whenua. E haka ana rātou i te haka i runga anō i tā te ngākau i kawe ai, i runga anō i tā te hinengaro i ohia ake ai.”
(I’m saying to the team, it’s good what you’re doing. Do what you need to do, for the love of the things you care about. Some people will say, ‘Well, the haka didn’t help them win.’ Yes they did lose a game, but they’ve also won a game, but within their hearts and those of the people, they have won. Why? Because they found a connection to this land. They did a haka on what the heart and the mind long desired.)
