I don’t know what it is about this primal ritual that fascinates me. It’s ferocious and energetic, and must have scared the shit out of enemies in the past. Recently, one erupted in the New Zealand parliament in protest of a proposed bill that would set back indigenous rights. All the speaker of the house could do was say “Oh, don’t do that.”
I agree with you. I’ve always liked watching Hakas.
The NZ national rugby team, the All Blacks’, hakas are legendary. All Blacks haka - YouTube
Someday, I would like to see a New Zealand team play against a Welsh team. The New Zealanders could perform the haka, the Welsh could sing “Men of Harlech”, like in the film Zulu.
Don’t forget Fiji
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Excellent!
There’s a very well filmed haka at a funeral or memorial for a young man that is heart breakingly powerful. It’s easy to find but I don’t want to cry at work.
One better I think,:
You should have posted the metal haka:
The coolest thing about it is that it can be pulled out for lots of special events. Here is one done for Shaun Johnson after his last game in the NRL. In typical Kiwi fashion it included players from both teams.
The observers were not impressed. Probably because it looked much less intimidating and much more like a scene from one of those musicals where people are aware that they are in a musical.
I assume you mean the other legislators. The gallery up top erupted and joined in. BBC footage:
They all had their choreograph down pat. I assume that they were all part of a staged event.
Hardly, they are all over the place. It is easy to learn the moves and that’s why it often spontaneously breaks out as a celebration.
But “the Haka” isn’t a dance like The Funky Chicken is a dance, it is a category of dances like stepping. If everyone starts doing the exact same dance it sure seems like it was preplanned.
…what the hell?
This was Te Rauparaha’s haka: I’d suggest to you that probably every single white kid in the country learns it at school. Ngāti Toa were in the gallery and likely the reason Ka Mate was chosen.
And it probably was preplanned by Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, in the same way that Rosa Parks refusal to go to the back of the bus was preplanned. But she was joined by MP’s from Labour and the Greens which likely wasn’t preplanned. Because trust me: they didn’t have to choreograph the words and the actions. Almost everyone in Aotearoa can perform Ka Mate. It’s like the pledge of allegiance. The star-spangled banner.
Thanks for all that. What I know about Maori traditions would fit in a teacup.
So, is the chant composed of intelligible words? If so, what’s a rough translation?
…I’m not sure what this means. Its in Māori. Of course it’s composed of intelligible words.
Translation (not a rough one) :
For more context:
https://www.toarangatira.iwi.nz/kamate
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350376066/ka-mate-origins-iconic-haka
…for more context: Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, the MP in the original video, went to Te Wharekura o Rākaumangamanga, a total-immersion school or kura kaupapa, which means that students are “immersed in a Māori language and cultural environment.”
She’s the second-youngest sitting MP, (the youngest was elected in 1853 and shouldn’t have been eligible, he lied about his age.) And she defeated the incumbent, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta. She wrote a book at the age of 17. And dresses like a revolutionary.
In short, she very much didn’t need to “learn the choreography” before she led the haka at parliament. 
She is a complete and total badass. And she will be at the forefront of resistance here in NZ as the alt-right start to dominate governments all over the world.