The real story behind ‘Ka Mate’, the All Blacks haka
Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:45p.m.
The All Blacks performing the haka (Photosport)
By Laura Frykberg
The All Blacks have made it famous, but has the real meaning behind ‘Ka Mate’ been lost to rugby?
An exhibition teaching people about the origins of the haka might be more useful than we’d like to think.
For a chant so famous, some Kiwis need re-educating on the real story of ‘Ka Mate’, which is exactly the aim of Ngati Toa’s Te Papa exhibition.
In 1820 Te Rauparaha of Ngati Toa chanted ‘Kat Mate’ after escaping enemies in the Waikato by hiding in a potato storage pit.
Almost 200 years on, the war leader may not have imagined sights of families awkwardly doing the haka made famous by our national rugby team.
But the head of Ngati Toa, Matiu Rei, says the exhibition is making ‘Ka Mate’ about more than just the All Blacks.
“We wanted to explain to people the origins of the haka, what it means to us as a people, as a tribe and to tell its story,” he says.
Ngati Toa hopes to take the exhibition overseas.
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