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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
Mai anō i te taenga mai o ngā mihinare i te rautau 1800 ka ngana rātou ki te whakakore i te haka me ngā tū āhua o te ahurea Māori i tukituki ki tō rātou ake whakapono. Kātahi ka aukati te minita a Henry Williams (o te Rōpū Mihinare) i ngā tikanga Māori pērā i te waiata me te haka. Kātahi ka whakatika ngā mihinare ki te mokonaha i ngā haka me ngā mōteatea, ā, ka whakawaiatatia atu ki ngā rangi a te Pākehā.
Nō te pokapū o te rautau 1800 e taunga ana te Māori ki ngā rangi waiata hīmene. Kua kapo anō i ngā waiata a te Pākehā hei kīnaki atu i ā rātou waiata. I te tau 1871 ko te tautiaki a Kīngi Tāwhiao tērā e waiata ana i te waiata Māori ki te rangi Pākehā.
Nō te tekau tau 1860 ka puea ake ngā rōpū (kōnehete) kapa haka tuatahi, otirā i Rotorua te mahi a ēnei rōpū, inā hoki he wāhi mīharo rawa ki te hunga tāpoi. I reira waiata ai ngā Māori i ā rātou waiata rangi Pākehā, he kawa hoki ki te taringa Pākehā te whakarongo ki ngā rangi mōteatea. Heoi anō ko te mahi tērā a ngā Māori, he waiata i ōna ake waiata me te whakamahi i te tino rangi Pākehā o te wā.
Heoi ka rangona tonutia te haka me ngā mōteatea i roto i te horopaki o ēnei tūmomo rōpū. Mawhiti atu ai ēnei kapa ki tāwāhi, ā, ka whakamahi i te āhuatanga Māori me te āhuatanga Pākehā hei ngahautanga atu. I haka tonu te rōpū a Tākuta McGauran e kīia ana ko ‘Troupe of Warrior Chiefs, Wives and Children’. I tū tērā Whakaari ki Poihākena me Poipiripi i te tau 1862, ā, nō te tau i muri mai ka tau atu ki Peretānia.
Ko ngā kotuku awe nui, otirā ngā kāhui ariki o Peretānia ka pōhiritia. Otirā nō te tau 1869 ka tau tuatahi mai te whare o Peretānia, arā, te mokopuna a Kuini Wikitōria, a Pirini Albert. I taua wā e mura tonu ana ngā pakanga whenua o Aotearoa. Nō te paenga ki te tumu i Te Whanganui-a-Tara, ka hakaina atu e ngā Māori. I kī te niupepa a Wellington Independent, ‘Ka pakaru mai te ihi me te wana i ngā Māori, ka pūkana, ka whētero, ka haka, ka piua haeretia ngā rākau ānō nei he kurī kai tāwhao. Ko ēnei tangi tīoro he mihi whakatau kē. E mihi atu ana rātou ki tō rātou Tiuka kia haramai.’1
Ka ora tonu te kapa haka i roto i ngā whakahaere katoa a ngā Māori pērā i te Hāhi Ringatū, te Kīngitanga me te kāinga o Te Whiti-o-Rongomai rāua ko Tohu Kākahi a Parihaka.
Taka mai ki te rautau 1900 kua taunga kē ngā kapa haka hei kanohi mō Aotearoa. Ko te kaiārahi i ngā tūruhi ko Mākereti Papakura o Te Arawa tētahi i taki i tōna kapa ki Ahitereiria me Ingarangi i ngā tau o 1910-11. Ko te ariki o Tainui ko Te Puea Hērangi tērā i kumeroa i a Te Pou o Mangatāwhiri ki te mahi moni mō te whakatūnga o te marae o Tūrangawaewae hei manapou mō Te Kīngitanga.
Nō ngā tau tōmua o te rautau 1900 e tāpiritia ana ngā waiata-ā-ringa. I hua ake te waiata-ā-ringa i te whenumitanga o ngā waiata Pākehā me ngā nekeneke ake a te Māori. Kāpā ko te haka waiata tūturu, he maha ake ngā ringa o ēnei waiata hou hei whakaahua i ngā kupu.
E whakaae ana te iti me te rahi nā ngā mahi a Āpirana Ngata i kaingākaunuitia ai te waiata ā-ringa i te ao Māori. Ko ngā titonga tōmua rawa e kitea ana ki te hōtaka o te hui a te Rōpū Rangatahi Māori i te tau 1908. Ko ōna kaiārahi ko Ngata, ko Te Rangi Hīroa, ko Māui Pōmare mā.
I te wā o te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao ka whakatenatena a Ngata kia mahi moni ngā kapa haka mō te Pūtea Hōia Māori. I muri mai i te pakanga ka kohia e ia ngā waiata me ngā whaikōrero, ā, nō te tau 1929 ka puawai ake ko te puka o Ngā Mōteatea.
Ko tā te poi waka e tauira ana i te hoenga o te waka. E ai te whakaaro nā Guide Bella o Te Arawa tēnei i tito i te Whakaaturanga i Ōtautahi i ngā tau 1906-07.
He maha ngā waiata hou ka titoa mai e ngā kapa haka hei waiata rānei mā ngā kapa haka. Nō te takiwā o 1918 ka titoa a Pō Atarau (Now is the Hour). Nāwai ka waiatatia tēnei waiata e ngā manu korokī o te ao pērā i a Bing Crosby.
Nā te kaha ngākaunui o te tangata ki te kapa haka i te rautau 1900 ka rerekē anō ngā momo kākahu, ā, ka whakarākaitia atu me ngā pūweru tūturu ake o te Māori, kua kore kē e tino kitea. Ka hangā houtia ētahi kākahu nō te ao tawhito. Ko te piupiu tētahi pūweru mō te tāne me te wahine, ā, he mea whakahirahira i roto i te kapa haka. Ko te tikanga o te kupu piupiu he piu mai i tētahi taha ki tētahi. He mea hanga te piupiu ki te harakeke maroke, ā, ka rarā ōna aho ki te manawataki o te haka.
Ka tīpako tonu ngā kapa haka Māori ki te whakamahi i ngā taonga pūoro Pākehā i te taha o ngā titonga Pākehā. Ko te rakuraku te mea pai, arā, he māmā ki te heri haere. Ko te koriana anō tētahi whakatangitangi i kitea e paingia ana e te Māori i te tīmatanga o te rautau 1900.
Mai i te tekau tau 1930 ka mātotoru ake te iwi Māori, ā, ka tīmata te neke ki te tāone noho ai. Ka whakatūria ngā kapa haka hei taura here mō ērā e noho manene ana ki ngā tāone. Ka haere tonu ngā kaupapa ki te kohi moni me te whakangahau tūruhi, engari ko tōna kaupapa matua ko te noho hei waka kawe i te reo Māori me ngā tikanga Māori.
I arataki a Ngāpō rāua ko Pīmia Wehi i ā rāua kapa kia toa ki te whakataetae kapa haka o te motu – e rua ngā toanga o te kapa haka o Waihīrere, e whā mō te kapa ā-iwi o Te Waka Huia. Nā ō rāua rōpū i whakakanohi te motu ki ngā taiopenga e whā o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa; ki ngā Taumāhekeheke o te Ao ki Seoul i te tau 1988; me te Whakataetae o Te Kotahitanga o Peretānia ki Wikitōria i Kānata i te tau 1994. Kia whai pūtea ai ōna kaihaka, tū ai a Te Waka Huia ki Tāmaki Paenga Hira mō te 14 tau.
Mai i te tekau tau 1930 ka kitea te aranga mai o ngā kapa ā-iwi (nō ngā hau e whā). I te tau 1936 ka whakatūria te kapa haka o Ngāti Pōneke ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara. I te tau 1969 nā Pita Sharples i whakatū Te Rōpū Manutaki ki Tāmaki-makaurau. I tērā wā hoki ka hangaia e Kīngi Īhaka te Karapu Māori o te Hāhi Mihinare Maōri o Tāmaki-makaurau. Nō ngā tau tōmua o te tekau tau 1970 ka waihangatia Te Kotahitanga o Waitaha ki Ōtautahi. Arā tonu ngā kapa haka i puea ake i ngā iwi, pērā i te rōpū a Tuini Ngāwai, a Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū, ki Tokomaru i te tau 1939, me Waihīrere i te tau 1951.
He rite tonu te waiata o ēnei kapa i ngā waiata whai rangi Pākehā, pērā i a ‘Que sera, sera’ me ‘Don’t be cruel’. Ahakoa he tūturu reo Māori ēnei kaiako, ka whakamahi rātou i ngā rangi Pākehā kia tō mai i te rangatahi ki roto ki te ahurea Māori. Ko Tuini Ngāwai tētahi i whakamahi i ngā rangi Pākehā kia are ā-taringa mai te taiohi ki ngā tohutohu o āna waiata. Nāwai rā ka kīnakitia e Dalvanius Prime tētahi o ngā titonga a Ngoi Pēwhairangi ki te rangi ‘hip hop’. I pīrangi nuitia te waiata a te Karapu Māori o Pātea i hua ake, arā, a ‘Poi e’, i te tau 1983.
Nō te tipu haere o ngā kapa haka hau kāinga ka hua ake ngā whakataetae ā-rohe, ā-motu hoki. He pai ake tēnei mahi i ngā pakanga ā-iwi i ngā rautau ki mua. I tū tētahi o ngā whakataetae tuatahi i te tau 1934 ki Waitangi, i reira tukuna ai te taonga ki te toa mō te waiata, te whaikōrero me te haka.
I muri tata i te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao tīmata ai ngā whakataetae ā-rohe ki Tūranga. Mai i te tau 1953, ko te Hīra o Taumaunu te taonga whakaihuwaka, he tohu mahara ki te kaitito o Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, ki a Karaitiana Taumaunu. He kaha te wairua whakataetae. I ngā wā parakitihi ka tukuna ngā pūrahorua ki te mātaki i ngā mahi a te hoariri.
I te tau 1963 e noho ana a Te Arohanui o Te Iwi Māori (e 150 ngā kaihaka o te kapa haka) ki te pā o ngā Mōmona ki Kākaramea ki Kirikiriroa. Mai i reira ka rere atu rātou ki Laie ki Hawaii; ki te whakaoti i te hanganga o te kāinga Māori ki te Pūtahi Ahurea o Poronīhia. Kātahi ka tau atu te tira ki Karipōnia me Pā Tote, ki reira whakaatu ai i ā rātou haka ki te hōtaka makau o Amerika, arā, ko te Danny Kaye show. Nā te momoho o tērā haerenga, ka haere te Kamupene Māori o Aotearoa ki Amerika i ngā tau 1972-73 engari kāore i kake ki ngā taumata o tērā o ngā haerenga.
Nō te tau 1972, 13 ngā whakataetae ā-rohe. I tērā tau ka tū te Taiopenga o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa ki Whakarewarewa ki Rotorua, i kitea ai te taumāhekeheke o ngā toa ā-rohe o te motu. Ko te aronga tuatahi i tū ai ngā whakataetae he whakapakari i te taumata o te whakangahau tūruhi, engari ka ara te kaupapa nui ake tērā ki te whakarauora i te reo Māori me te ahurea Māori. Nō te tau 1983 ka huaina kētia ko te Taiopenga Toi Whakaari Māori, ā, ka peia atu ngā iwi o ngā moutere.
I te tau 204 ka tapaina anō te ingoa hou o Te Matatini ki te whakataetae kapa haka ā-motu. I hua ake te ingoa ‘matatini’ i a Ahorangi Te Wharehuia Milroy, he kupu whakarite anō ki te hua mātinitini. Mai anō i tōna tīmatanga ko Te Matatini te taiopenga kapa haka nui a te Māori. Neke atu i te 30,000 ngā kaimātaki, kō atu i te 40 ngā kapa haka toa o ngā rohe (takiwā o te 2,000 kaihaka).
E ono ngā wāhanga – ko te whakaeke, ko te mōteatea, ko te poi, ko te waiata-ā-ringa, ko te haka me te whakawātea. Kei ngā rōpū te mana ki te mahi waiata tira. Arā atu anō ngā wāhanga toa, arā, mō te manukura wahine me te manukura tāne, mō te kākahu, mō te kairangi o te reo, mō te titonga waiata hou, me ngā toa mō te wāhanga poi, haka, waiata-ā-ringa hoki.
I te tau ruamano ko te kapa haka te waka hei pupuri i te reo me te ahurea Māori. Inā te huhua tangata ka tū ki te haka ki tēnā whaitua, ki tēnā taumāhekeheke puta noa i te motu.
Tāpiri atu ki Te Matatini, he mano anō ngā tāngata ka haere ki te mātaki i ngā taiopenga ā-rohe hoki. Mai anō i te tau 2000, e tū ana Te Ahurea Tino Rangatiratanga, arā, te whakataetae kapa haka mō ngā kura tuarua o Tāmaki-makaurau. Ko Te Mana Kuratahi te whakataetae ā-motu mō ngā kura tuatahi.
I hua ake Te Matatini i te Taiopenga o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa. I tēra o ngā taiopenga ka whai wāhi ngā iwi o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa. Nāwai ka noho te taiopenga ki te Māori anake. Heoi i te tau 2010 ka uru atu anō tētahi kapa nō tāwāhi ki Te Matatini, arā, ko Manawa Mai Tawhiti nō Perth i Ahitereiria. I hinga i a rātou ngā kapa e waru o Ahitereiria kia tae rātou ki Te Matatini.
He maha ngā hua mātauranga o te kapa haka. Tērā ko te pupuri me te whakatairanga i te reo me ngā tikanga Māori, tērā ko te whakamahinga o te mau rākau me te taonga puoro. Kua kite te hunga kaiako kāore i kō atu i te kapa haka hei ako i te pōwhiri, i te karakia me te whaikōrero. Kei roto i te kapa haka ngā akoranga e pā ana ki te whanaungatanga, te manaakitanga me te aroha, tae atu ki te mahi whakahere, mahi tito waiata me te whakakoi i te hinengaro.
E haere ana anō hoki te mahi kapa haka ki ngā whare wānanga.
I roto i te tekau tau 2000 he maha ngā whakahaerenga ā-motu ka tahuri ki te kapa haka hei whakatenatena i te hautoa o te takitahi me te takitini. Nā konei anō i āhei ai ngā Māori te kimi me te ako ko wai rātou. Ka mutu i roto i Te Taua Moana o Aotearoa me ako e ngā pia hou te haka o te taua moana. Ko Toi Whakaari te kura toi whakaari. I reira ākona ai te kapa haka ki ngā tauira o te tau tuatahi me te tau tuarua.
E rerekē haere ana te kapa haka, ā, he rite tonu ngā tautohetohe a ngā kaipupuri tikanga me te hunga wairua auaha. Ko Te Rangihau tētahi i ū tonu ki ngā tikanga o tua whakarere. He tohunga mau rākau, he kākā tarahae hoki a Te Rangihau, kīhai tonu i whakaae ki te haka taparahi a te wahine. Arā anō hoki te momo pērā i a Ngāpō Wehi (nō Te Whakatōhea) i whakatenatena i te hunga wāhine kia haka. I te tau 1990 ka mau rākau ana wāhine, i kawa ai ētahi o te minenga.
I ēnei rā ka ruku atu ngā titonga waiata ki ngā kaupapa o mua, o muri hoki. Kua tuhi haka a Wehi e pā ana ki te ‘kōpaki pūtea’, ki te taikaha a ētahi Māori, ko ngā take hauora e pā ai ki te iwi Māori me te hokonga atu o ngā rawa a te motu. E ū tonu ana a Wehi ki tāna kōrero, ko te kaupapa o te haka he ōrite ki ngā wā o mua. ‘I ēnei rā kua kore ngā pakanga o mua, ā, kua ahu kē ki ngā pakanga o te ao tōrangapū.’1
He kaihaka, he kaiako, he kaitito, he kaiwhakawā haka hoki a Te Rita Papesch. Kua whakapuakina e ia tōna āwangawanga ki te ngaronga o te tuakiri ā-iwi i waenganui i ngā kapa haka o ēnei rā. I mua atu he mārakerake te kite atu nō hea tētahi i tōna mita, i ōna nekeneke me tōna tū. Heoi nō nātata nei i waimeha ai te tū, i whakawhenumitia ai te tū a te Māori ki ngā tikanga o Hawaii, o Tahiti me Rarotonga.
Ko tētahi atu take ongaonga ko te mahi moni i te kapa haka. Kua tīmata te whai a Te Matatini i ngā tūāhua ngaio pērā i te whakaari o Arohanui. He whakaaturanga nui tēnei i tū ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara me Tāmaki-makaurau i te wā o te Ipu Whutupōro o te Ao i te tau 2011. Otirā ka mahi tahi ngā kaihaka me ngā kaiwhakaari i roto i tēnei whakaari i hangā mō ngā kaimātaki toi whakaari o te ao katoa.
Armstrong, Alan. Maori games and hakas: instructions, words and actions. Te Whanganui-a-Tara: A. H. & A. W. Reed, 1964.
Gardiner, Wira. Haka: a living tradition. Tāmaki Makaurau: Hodder Moa, 2007.
Haami, Bradford. Ka mau te wehi: Taking haka to the world: Bub & Nen’s story. Tāmaki Makaurau: Ngāpō and Pīmia Wehi Whānau Trust, 2013.
Kaʻai-Mahuta, Rachael, Tania Kaʻai and John Moorfield, eds. Kia rōnaki: the Māori performing arts. Rosedale, Tāmaki Makaurau: Pearson, 2013.
Kāretu, Tīmoti. Haka: te tohu o te whenua rangatira: the dance of a noble people. Tāmaki Makaurau: Reed, 1993.
McLean, Mervyn. Māori music. Tāmaki Makaurau: Auckland University Press, 1996.