By Samanvi Vitta
New Zealand: A beautiful, fascinating, island country. It has a whopping 4,545,627 in population. Its area is 103,883 square miles, and has many rivers like the Rangitaiki river. As Joseph Parker said, “My motivation is being unified heavyweight champion of the world, making New Zealand and my family proud.” This barely shows how much New Zealand has made an impact on people’s lives. New Zealand also holds the record for the longest name for a place. The name of this place is “Taumata whakatangi hangakoauau o tamatea turi pukakapiki maunga horo nuku pokai whenua kitanatahu.” This place’s name comes from the language called Māori. Unfortunately, we are only going to be talking about one thing, because if I were to talk about New Zealand, one article wouldn’t be enough, not even a website could be enough to know everything about New Zealand. Read on to find out what this one thing is.
This “thing” I’ve been talking about, is called the Haka. The Haka is a traditional, unique Maori dance that was used to show strength. Nowadays, it’s been used in rugby matches or at tourist destinations to show people who visit New Zealand the fascinating cultural history in New Zealand. Each dance tells a story. Before, the Haka was traditionally performed by men before they went to war. The hostile face expressions were meant to “scare” the opponents off. The dance was also to call god for help to win. But, for some more modern examples, they’re usually performed at birthdays, weddings, funerals, and a few other celebratory events. Now, the Haka is also performed by Women.
The most well known Haka is called the “Te Rauparaha Haka.” It is a ceremonial haka, which celebrates life over death. Before the arrival of Europeans, the Haka was performed when two groups had come together. The Haka was about “The sun god Tama-nui-te-ra and one of his wives, Hine-Raumati, who embodies the essence of summer, had a son named Tane-Rore.” The people of Māori consider the heat of the summer to be a sign of Tane-Rore, dancing for his mother. The hand movements represent Tane-Rore’s dance. The performers in Haka use many other body and facial expressions that include bulging eyes (Pukana) sticking out their tongue (Whetero), stomping feet (Waewae Takahia), and slapping their body with their hands.
This mostly sums up the amazing dance of Haka. No matter what I write about the beautiful dance of Taka, it can never fully capture the beauty of the Taka dance. Come back next month and take another fascinating tour of another unique place and their culture.