E pā ana te kupu ‘kapa’ ki ngā rārangi kaihaka. Ko te ‘haka’, he koringa tinana, ārero hoki. Ka mutu ko te ‘kapa haka’ he rōpū haka, he rōpū waiata hoki. Nō tua whakarere mai te kapa haka, engari e ora tonu ana ia i ēnei rā.
Ngā tūmomo haka
Ehara te haka mō te kawe ā-riri noa. He maha ngā tūmomo haka mō ngā mahi rerekē. E kī ana te mātanga ki a Tīmoti Kāretu, he tūāpapa te haka mō te kaitito, ki te ‘puha i te riri, ki te whakanui i te tangata, ki te pōhiri i te manuhiri, ki te whakatuwhera whare, ki te whakamihi i ngā mate, ki te whakatau i ngā mate, ki te whakaheke kōrero ki ngā reanga māhuri tōtara.1 Kei runga katoa i ēnei tūmomo haka ko te mauri me te wairua.
Poi
He āhuatanga te poi e kitea anake i te Māori. He mea here te poi ki te taura, ā, tāwhiua e te kaihaka. I ngā wā o mua, ka whakamahi te tāne i te poi hei whakaharatau mārohirohi tū taua; ā, whakamahia ai e te wahine ki te whakangāwari i ngā uaua, kia ngāwari ngā ringa mō ngā mahi pērā i te raranga.
Te waiata i roto i te haka
He tūāhua nui te waiata i roto i te kapa haka. He tikanga tō tēnā haka, tō tēnā waiata. Ko te kaupapa nui o te waiata he whakawhiti whakaaro atu ki te tangata, he pupuri i ngā kōrero nui.
Te haka rangatira
I ngā wā o mua ehara te haka i te mahi heahea noa iho. He wā tōna i runga kē i te haka te mana o te iwi e pupuri ana. Ka mutu kia tohunga tonu te kaitaki, kia manawataki, kia ihonui.
Te haka tuatahi
E kī ana te kōrero nā Tinirau te kapa haka tuatahi, i tōna whakaemi i tōna kapa wāhine. Hei rapu utu i tōna hoariri i a Kae, ka tonoa e ia te kapa wāhine ki te haka kia Kae; kia kata ia, e kitea mai ia i te āhua o ōna niho. I tutuki tāna i hiahia ai – ā, ka patua a Kae.
Ngā pānga tuatahi ki te Pākehā
Inā te mīharo o ngā kaimātaki Pākehā ki te weriweri o tēnei mea te haka. Ki tā tētahi i haere mai i te taha o Kāpene Kuki i te tau 1769, ki a Joseph Banks, ‘He maha ngā tūmomo korikoringa tinana kei roto i te haka. Ka whētero te ārero, ā, ka tīkoro ngā whatu kia huraina te mā o te kanohi: otirā kāore e mahue tētahi āhuatanga weriweri ki waho i tēnei tūmomo āhua.’2
Ngā tūmomo mahi o te kapa haka
Ko te tū me ngā ringa hei whakawehi i te hoariri, hei whakaihi rānei i te kaimātaki kia tū hoki ki te haka. Ka haramai tonu te ihi i te puku, ka whakaputa haere ki roto ki ngā ringa me te reo o te kaihaka hei whakaea hoki i tāna whakahau ki te hunga whakarongo. E eke panuku ai te haka, me pakari te tinana me te hinengaro. Otirā i ngā whakatūtū waewae, ko te aronga he whakahauware i te hoariri ki te pūkana me te whētero.
Ka uia te tohunga haka o Ngāti Porou a Hēnare Te Ōwai he aha ana kōrero mō tēnei mea te haka, ka whakautu ia: ‘Kia kōrero te katoa o te tinana.’3
