As the story goes, chief Te
Rauparaha of Ngati Toa composed this haka after his near death experience. As
the chief ran away to escape the clutches of his enemies, he came across a
woman next to a food storage pit. He pleaded to the woman his case and hid in
the pit as his enemies searched for his location. Later, the chief climbed out
of the pit and found a man standing over him, but this man had no intention of
killing the chief. In fact, he was friendly to the chief. So, out of gratitude
for this man’s kindness, the chief performed the well-known Ka Mate haka.
Ka mate, Ka mate (I
die, I die)
Ka ora’ Ka ora’ (I
live, I live)
Ka mate, Ka mate (I
die, I die)
Ka ora’ Ka ora’ (I
live, I live)
Tenei te tangata puhuruhuru (This
is the fierce, powerful man)
Nana I tiki mai whakawhiti te ra (Who
caused the sun to shine again for me)
Upane…Upane (Up
the ladder, Up the ladder)
Upane Kaupane (Up
to the top)
Whiti te ra (The
sun shines)
Hi (Rise)
However, the truth behind the
famous Ka Mate haka reads as follows. The son of chief Te Rauparaha was saved
by his faith in Jesus Christ. So, out of his adoration to the Lord, the son
performed this haka. If you pay close attention to the words, you will find
that it depicts the image of Christ.
The word haka is broken down into
two parts: “ha” and “ka”. “Ha” actually means breathing. The heaving breathing
that is performed during a haka illustrates the “ha”. According to a Maori man,
the breathing represents the life that was breathed into Adam upon the creation
of man. The “Ka” depicts intensity or ferociousness. Therefore, the haka is
literally defined as ferocious breathing. The Maori man then mentioned that the
haka is performed by spiritual warriors to instill the fear of God into their
opposition.
