Haka History

Tried and True

The Haka is a dance performed in Polynesian and other South Pacific cultures. Kapa Haka has been around for hundreds and hundreds of years, and was originally created as a war chant of sorts, meant to strike fear into the hearts of enemies. Haka was and is common in New Zealand and Australia, being practiced by the local Maori peoples. During European colonization, this tough war dance resisted attempts to destroy it by European Christian leaders, and continues to thrive and become more well known to this day.

This quote from an issue of The Wellington New Zealand Independant in 1869 states, "The excitement of the Maoris becomes uncontrollable. They gesticulate, they dance, they throw their weapons wildly in the air, while they yell like fiends let loose. But all this fierce yelling is of the most friendly character. They are bidding the Duke welcome." (Wellington Independent).

This quote shows how after years of European colonization, the Haka had already made transition from more of a war dance, to a community practice and greeting, here being used to greet royalty to New Zealand.