“We will never fold”: Haka today as a form of Korero Motuhake

“taku iwi tuohu kore e!” 

Ko te haka, he korero motuhake 

Words by Te Arahori Grace Day (she/her), Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Tūrangitukua 

Nā te kapa haka i mārama tuatahi ai au ki tōku ao Māori.  

Nōku e tipu ake ana i te te pūnaha kura auraki, he here-kore ōku ki tōku Māoritanga. Engari, nōku i te kura, i whai wāhi atu au ki ngā mahi kapa haka hei tūhono i a au kia whai māramatanga ki te hirahira o ōku whakapapa me ōku whenua. Ahakoa kāore au e mōhio ana ki te kōrero, kāore hoki au e mārama ki te reo, ka waiata ana au, ka tū ana rānei ki te haka, ka pupū ake te wairua me te ora o tōku mauri ki roto i a au. 

Nō mai rā anō, ko te mahi a te kapa haka me ngā waiata he whakamana i te whakapapa me ngā kōrero tuku iho ā-whānau ki ā tātou tamariki, mokopuna hoki. Engari anō ēnei rā, kua whakamahia hei ara porotū, hei taonga whakakotahi i te iwi. 

I te 2 o Maehe, i tau te kōrero o te Kapa Poua it ō rātou tukinga tuatahi, ka whakatumatuma rātou i te pire rāwekeweke a te Kāwanatanga i te Tiriti o Waitangi. Ko tā rātou mahi he tito haka e tuku wero ana ki ngā karetao o te Kāwana kakiwhero. I a rātou e tū ana ki te haka, ko tā te kapa Poua ki ngā kaimātakitaki, “taku iwi tuohu kore e!”, arā, ko te whakamārama, e kore te iwi e ngoikore, e tuohu. 

Ehara tēnei momo porotū i te tū e huri tuarā atu ai te iwi, ina hoki, ko ngā kaitōrangapū. Ko te kōrero a Winitana Pita, he haka takahi tērā i te mana o te kāwanatanga. I whakapuaki a Chris Hipkins i tāna i mea rā, koia nei te tino wairua o tēnei mea te haka, arā, kei tēnā, kei tēnā tōna anō mana ki te whakaputa i ōna whakaaro. Hei tā Chris Bishop, kāore ia i whakaae ki te kōrero nui i puta, heoi, he mana anō tō rātou ki te whakaputa i tā rātou e kaimomotu nei. 

I te kēmu i tū i te wiki i muri mai, i hakaina anō e rātou tā rātou haka porotū i te ngoikoretanga o te Kāwanatanga. Ko te wairua porotū o te iwi Māori tēnei e whakaatatia nei, mai anō i te waitohunga o Te Tiriti o Waitangi, ki te whakapūmau anō i te mana Māori motuhake.  

Ko te haka a Poua e mea ana, “he rangitahi no a te kāwanatanga, ko te Tiriti ka mau tonu, ko Poua ka mau tonu”. Kei te tū ā-Māori nei rātou, ā, kei te whakaatu i tō rātou ake mana ki te whakatakoto i te wero ki a rātou. He haka whakaohooho tēnei ki te Māori, kia kaha rā te mahi tahi. Nā rātou te wero i whakatakoto i tā Poua i kī rā, “Maranga Aotearoa! Anei a Hurutearangi”. Ko Hurutearangi te atua wahine o ngā hau, he tohu tēnei mō ngā hau mātakataka o te wā. Kua pā ēnei hurihuringa ki te tokomaha o ngāi Māori, ina rā, ko te reanga rangatahi. 

I te 14 o Maehe, i tae atu a David Seymour ki te Kura Tuarua o Freyberg, ki Te Papaioea; ko ia te Minita Tuarua mō ngā take Mātauranga. Nō tana wehenga i te kura, ka tākina a Ka Mate e ngā ākonga hei porotū, hei tuku i tō rātou whakahē ki te pire Tiriti a Seymour. I puta i a rātou ō rātou riri ki ngā mahi whakakaore i ngā hōtaka e kore utu ai ngā kai i ngā kura. 

I te wā e kawawhiu ana te haka, ko te whakapae, i tuha tētahi ākonga ki te whenua i mua tata mai i ngā rekereke o David Seymour, ā, i reira ka whakaaro te kura me hāmenetia ēnei ākonga. I aunoa te rere o te tautoko i ngā pae pāhopori puta noa i Aotearoa nei, tae noa ki te putanga mai o tētahi petihana e whakatau ana i te mōtika o ngā rangatahi nei ki te whakaputa i ō rātou ake whakaaro, ā, kāore tētahi i tūkinotia.  

Ka puea ake te awhero nui ka kaha tonu te reanga o muri nei ki te whakamahi tonu i te haka hei taonga whakatutū puehu ā ngā rā ki tua. Ahakoa kua rongo te nuinga o ngāi kiwi i a  Ka Mate, nā ngā ākonga o te Kura Tuarua o Freyberg i rangona tētahi momo wairua rerekē e hāngai pū ake ana. 

“Hupuna! Kaupane! 

Whiti te ra!”  

Kapa haka is where I first understood what it meant to be Māori.  

Growing up in the mainstream school system there was a level of disconnect from my Māoritanga. Yet throughout school I was able to engage in kapa haka as a way of connecting and understanding the importance of whakapapa and whenua. While I’m not able to speak or fully understand te reo, when I engage in waiata or haka I feel like I understand through the wairua and mauri.  

For generations haka and waiata have been used to share whakapapa and whanau history with our tamariki and mokopuna. But now, they’re commonly used as a form of protest, and a way of showing solidarity.  

On March 2nd, the Hurricanes Poua team decided for their first game of the season, they would protest the Governments proposed bill to redefine Te Tiriti. They did so by composing a haka calling out karetao o te Kāwana kakiwhero (Puppets of this Redneck Government). During the haka the Poua told viewers, “taku iwi tuohu kore e!” which means “what will always last is our people, we will never fold”.  

This display of protest wasn't something people could just ignore, especially politicians. Winston Peters talked about how it was an insult to the Government. Chris Hipkins stated that this is what haka is and everyone is entitled to express their opinion. Chris Bishop said he disagreed with the message but that they were entitled to their view.  

At the Poua’s next game a week later, they performed another haka protesting the Government’s ignorance. The dynamic of Māori activism since the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi has been characterised by a restless search to recover and reassert that lost mana Māori motuhake (Māori sovereignty).  

Poua said in their haka, “Governments are temporary, the Treaty will endure, Poua will endure”. They are recentring Māori, showing that we have the authority to push back. It is a wakeup call to Māori that we need to work together. They set a wero for us in their haka when Poua said, “New Zealand rise up! Here is Hurutearangi”. Hurutearangi is the female atua of the wind, a symbol that the winds are shifting. Many Māori have felt the change in the winds, especially our rangatahi.  

On March 14th, David Seymour visited Freyberg High School in Palmerston North as the associate education minister. As Seymour was leaving the students performed Ka Mate, which had been organised by the students to protest Seymour’s Treaty Bill. The students showed their frustration at plans to cut back programmes which ensure students receive free kai.  

During the haka, one student allegedly spat at the ground in front of David Seymour's feet, which led the school to consider suspending the students. Social media support came from people all around Aotearoa, as well as a petition stating that these rangatahi were exercising their rights to free speech, and no one was harmed. 

These students give me hope, that the next generation of Māori will continue to use haka to fight for their future. Because while every kiwi has no doubt heard the Ka Mate chant before, the Freyberg students' performance ended with a resonance that has never felt more relevant.  

“Hupuna! Kaupane! 

Whiti te ra!”  

“One last upward step!  

Then step forth 

Into the sun that shines!”