You seem very uninformed about the history of the Haka.
There are many different ones, but the most common one, Ka Mate, is usually performed by sports teams before a game, and is meant to be intimidating.
They were historically performed by a tribe’s mightiest warriors when other chiefs came to visit, as one example. They’re often a war dance, a show of power.
I don’t know about other commenters, but I’m absolutely not uninformed, and this was in no way out of line given the context.
Hakas have evolved from traditional war dances and are often performed at sports events, that’s true, but the Ka Mate is also performed in many other contexts (including at funerals and after separation of families) and should not be boiled down to simple intimidation – it’s more a show of resolve. Do you think groups of people meeting after a long absence are trying to threaten one another or that mourners are trying to intimidate the deceased? The meaning has nuance and is not a simple threat; it’s about the will to overcome adversity, and is basically the national anthem of the Maori’s iwi, which was fought for in this very Parliament, and which resulted in the Haka (Ka Mate) Attribution Act after colonisation. I honestly cannot think of a more fitting time and place to perform it than in this context.
If you’ve only seen it in a sports context, I can see how you might think it’s simply a modernised war dance meant to intimidate an opposing group, but that’s a very reductionist view of it.
Ka Mate is the haka often performed by the All Blacks. It begins with ‘Ka mate, ka mate, ka ora, ka ora’, which translates to ‘I die, I die, I live, I live.’
One can only imagine how Ngati Toa Chief Te Rauparaha felt when he first chanted these words 200 years ago. He had just evaded capture by a rival iwi (tribe) and was given shelter by another iwi, who hid him underground in a kūmara (sweet potato) pit. Ka mate tells this story, describing how Te Rauparaha shook off adversity to emerge from the darkness of the kūmara pit into the light.
Te Rauparaha went on to evade capture a few more times and to become a great Māori chief and warrior, helping to expand Ngāti Toa’s territory across the lower North Island.
You can read the origin of the Ka Mate from New Zealand Geographic – this is not a story of war and intimidation, but of perseverence and the will to overcome.
Ka Mate shouldn’t be viewed as an intimidation tactic that’s morphed from war to sports, but as a deeply cultural story that absolutely has a place in New Zealand Parliament, and some overstuffed colonists being offended is disdainful at best.
e: oh, I also meant to mention that, even long ago, haka weren’t meant to be simply war dances to intimidate and threaten in preparation for battle but, ideally, to head off the need for battle in the first place. A well-performed haka was in stead of battle, not just in preparation for one. The point was to not have to fight, but to impress and come to agreement. That’s nearly the opposite of what many people think these dances were for.
Of course intimidation is the point – psychological/political intimidation, not physical. Context matters. Don’t try to pretend that the other MPs were scared they were gonna charge at them with taiahas or something, because that’s bullshit and you know it.
You seem very uninformed about the history of the Haka.
There are many different ones, but the most common one, Ka Mate, is usually performed by sports teams before a game, and is meant to be intimidating.
They were historically performed by a tribe’s mightiest warriors when other chiefs came to visit, as one example. They’re often a war dance, a show of power.
The audience is supposed to be intimidated
I don’t know about other commenters, but I’m absolutely not uninformed, and this was in no way out of line given the context.
Hakas have evolved from traditional war dances and are often performed at sports events, that’s true, but the Ka Mate is also performed in many other contexts (including at funerals and after separation of families) and should not be boiled down to simple intimidation – it’s more a show of resolve. Do you think groups of people meeting after a long absence are trying to threaten one another or that mourners are trying to intimidate the deceased? The meaning has nuance and is not a simple threat; it’s about the will to overcome adversity, and is basically the national anthem of the Maori’s iwi, which was fought for in this very Parliament, and which resulted in the Haka (Ka Mate) Attribution Act after colonisation. I honestly cannot think of a more fitting time and place to perform it than in this context.
If you’ve only seen it in a sports context, I can see how you might think it’s simply a modernised war dance meant to intimidate an opposing group, but that’s a very reductionist view of it.
From newzealand.com:
You can read the origin of the Ka Mate from New Zealand Geographic – this is not a story of war and intimidation, but of perseverence and the will to overcome.
And here’s a fantastic breakdown on the meaning and how to perform it from the Australian International School (AIS).
Ka Mate shouldn’t be viewed as an intimidation tactic that’s morphed from war to sports, but as a deeply cultural story that absolutely has a place in New Zealand Parliament, and some overstuffed colonists being offended is disdainful at best.
e: oh, I also meant to mention that, even long ago, haka weren’t meant to be simply war dances to intimidate and threaten in preparation for battle but, ideally, to head off the need for battle in the first place. A well-performed haka was in stead of battle, not just in preparation for one. The point was to not have to fight, but to impress and come to agreement. That’s nearly the opposite of what many people think these dances were for.
Of course intimidation is the point – psychological/political intimidation, not physical. Context matters. Don’t try to pretend that the other MPs were scared they were gonna charge at them with taiahas or something, because that’s bullshit and you know it.
e: I replied to the wrong comment, sorry. Moved my reply to your parent.
Actually, I don’t think one of the Maori party MPs throwing hands is particularly far fetched.