You know, they may be speaking Maori. Calling someone else’s language gibberish is rather uncouth.
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Makes Hava Nagila look like afternoon tea.
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Would a team with a different culture be allowed to collectively give a middle finger to their opposing team on the same basis?
They’re speaking in Maori, not tongues. It’s the language Maori people speak in. You don’t have to have respect, but it reflects better on you if you do
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Were you or your spouse of Maori descent? If not, then not ‘missing out’ would have probably necessitated an awkward act of cultural appropriation.
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It ‘looks like’ a big “Fuck You” to some ignoramus on the Internet who clearly has no idea about the context or meaning for the performance. I guess that must mean it’s objectively offensive!
Sporting events are dripping with displays of bravado. This doesn’t seem any more ‘offensive’ than having a team of cheerleaders come out and lead chants for the home team, or having a marching band come out and play the home team’s fight song or whatever. The only real difference is that the players themselves are doing the performance. Oh, and that it’s “cultural,” whatever the fuck that means, you crypto-xenophobic boob.
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This made me think of this: https://youtu.be/29Vd8KSA3RE
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They weren’t fined because they accepted the challenge - pretty much everyone was delighted when they did - but because they moved across the 50-metre line.
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Nice video, great wedding!
In many ways a haka is a challenge - in part, the significance is that the person or party receiving the challenge is being honoured, because the haka is a signal that the performers of the haka think you are worthy of being challenged.
I do not know the name of the haka performed at the wedding, and I only speak a very
small amount of te reo Maori, however, 2 years ago I had the great honour of
working on digital content for an exhibition created in partnership with Ngati
Toa iwi (tribe) to tell their story. A very famous Ngati Toa chief, Te Rauparaha, composed the haka ‘Ka mate’ which is the one usually performed by New Zealand’s national rugby team, the All Blacks.
(Performed with the blessings of Ngati Toa, now that they have got it right!).
At the opening of the exhibition, Ka mate was performed by over 400 Ngati Toa tribe members. You can watch the video here: http://channel.tepapa.govt.nz/video/haka-ka-mate-performed-by-ngati-toa/
The text of Ka mate is very interesting, and, as with all great poetry, has many layers of meaning.
Te Rauparaha composed the haka after escaping his enemies by hiding in a potato storage pit (or in some tellings kumara) while a powerful woman sat at the entrance. Hiding in this way was effective at masked the ‘spiritual vision’ of those seeking him.
As he was lying still, underground, it is said the key refrain came to him:
“Ka mate, ka mate, ka ora, ka ora” which means along the lines of: I am dead, I am dead, I am
alive, I am alive.
As part of the 2009 Ngati Toa Treaty of Waitangi settlement to redress crown transgressions to the 1840 treaty with Maori a bill was passed to rightly acknowledge Te Rauparaha as the composer of Ka mate. This may help Ngati Toa establish greater rights over its use and misuse.
More here:
Ngati Toa’s webpage on Ka mate:
http://www.ngatitoa.iwi.nz/ka-mate/
Encyclopaedia entry on Ka mate:
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/music/3918/chant-composed-by-te-rauparaha
Ngati Toa’s webpage on the history of their treaty redress negotiations:
http://www.ngatitoa.iwi.nz/runanga/treaty-information/
A kids book on the story of Ka mate:
https://www.huia.co.nz/shop&item_id=6011
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In the western cultures, isn’t the same done in a more passive-aggressive way, mediated by the choice of the wedding gifts?
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If “cultural appropriation” is so bad, why fusion cuisine tastes so good?
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My (admittedly limited) understanding of the haka is that it is a way to recognize and honor the strength and courage of those receiving the haka, and that it is greeting and challenge combined.
I think the tradition of the handshake is slightly similar. It is a greeting that allows a display of strength, character, and level of aggression.
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I’m sure I’m not the only one disappointed that the only scene showing that awesome bridesmaid in the header gif is exactly the length of that gif. Clearly there were multiple cameras involved, and presumably there’s more footage of the female members of the wedding party participating - it would be cool if we could see some of that footage, too.
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They may have been speaking Maori, but there was definitely some tongues 
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Ah yes, the all whites as I used to call them back then.
It’s fucking awesome. I’m a rugby fan.
It did and does have some issues surrounding how you are or are not allowed to respond to it which are being worked out. It has led to confrontation before. Not only when a western team faces up to it but also between islander teams.
Anyway fucking awesome and New Zealand play with cold fire and are on their day unstoppable. It’s a privilege to watch.
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I love it when the opposition are allowed to respond.
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My wedding had Greek dancing, which was well and good but not nearly as badass.
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I’m on my phone so decent searching is difficult but I was thinking of an under 20s match between two representative island teams that had a mass fight at the haka. The lions advance in a wedge does pop into mind and from searching I see there was an issue at a NZ Oz under 20s match.
The thing is: NZ aren’t distinguished by their aggression, all rugby teams are aggressive, but rather by their discipline in channelling that aggression, their precision, and their skill levels throughout the team. Plus they do cheat better than everyone else!
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This is the first time I’ve ever seen a haka performed, and I completely get it, and it’s freaking beautiful.
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