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'Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora! Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora!' There are many 'hakas'. They are war songs, to be performed before an opposing force as a precedent to battle. In one sense, they're last minute diplomacy. The words, gestures and choreography are constructed so as to put fear into opponents and maybe scare them from the battlefield before any blood is shed. The famous lines of this Maori 'haka' roughly translate as "It is life, it is death", or "I live, I die". The New Zealand football team, the All Blacks. chants this 'haka' to their rugby opponents with fearsome gestures and facial contortions. While battle almost always commences after. the haka must have some effect, for the All Blacks are winners much more often than they are losers. |
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