ELI5—is the ‘haka’ standardised?

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I recognise the haka is a valuable bit of cultural heritage for the Māori people. And in all of the videos I see, it’s like the participants all seem to know exactly when to do what.

Which leads me to wonder—are the words/movements in the haka standardised? Or are there just popular or historic versions of it that happen to be particularly widely known?

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3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Hakas have a lot of variation across the cultures that practice them – they’re mostly thought of as a Māori tradition, but they are also a part of many Pacific Island cultures.

Every iwi or kapa haka group has their preferred haka. That doesn’t mean that a haka is hyperspecific to one group though. New hakas get written all the time and people borrow too. The All Black’s have had several hakas since the practice was introduced.

That said, when a haka is written or decided on, it gets rehersed like any form of performance art. Have you ever seen a video of The Rockettes and wondered how they all seem to know what to do and when? It’s the same thing here

Anonymous 0 Comments

The most likely one you’ll see at NZ national team rugby matches and the like is the Ka Mate so is a standardised one. There are other traditonal haka as well as ones that have been created more recently.

Anonymous 0 Comments

There are many haka depending on your iwi (tribe) and where you are geographically from in the country. Some haka are only performed by those iwi that it belongs to. Some are for everyone. Kapa haka (group learning and practicing and performing haka) is common in schools and communities, to the point that many schools have their own haka. It doesn’t just include the haka you will have seen lots of (ka mate – that’s used by the All Blacks, for example) but also waiata (song) and poi (used for a kind of percussion). Different waiata have different movements associated with them. It’s a deep and meaningful thing, which is also why it is so offensive (to some) to see haka being mocked or joked about or copied. If you have the privilege of witnessing haka, especially if it’s for you, then you are being shown a lot of respect. Having that respect be mocked in return is the antithesis of haka.