Hakas—what is the meaning here? How do you respond to it as the opposition?
Traditional version (ie the one they started with in 1915, was it? not with the mics and such obviously):
Kapa o Pango (the new one, made especially for the all blacks):
Commoditisation of...:
And responses to (though only a few and I've seen some more interesting ones):
oh, here was a good one:
This is great! I have a few friends who are in the Hawaii Club here who practice Haka. I had never really put it into context because I do not know the functions of haka all too well, but this makes it a bit easier to understand. Since this form of music is used as a communication tool (and in the case for haka) for war, there will be confusion with the culture that no longer associates music with this meaning. I found this article really insightful!
ReplyDeleteAh, didn't realise you were a Haka man, Jordan. Me too—I've been thinking about writing an article about the All Blacks version for a few years now. Check out the versions I added to the main post.
ReplyDeleteThis particular haka, not sure what it's name is, is the first Haka that I have seen. I think that this one may be one of the more popular hakas that has spread across the various groups that have Haka as performance. I was a bit surprised to see that this is the one haka that is used by the All Blacks though. I do know that there is a lot of discussion about Haka ownership and the rights to perform certain Hakas. I'm not sure to what degree this extends as Haka does not seem as monitored as some other practices, but that may be due to my lack of knowledge of this particular music.
DeleteI think the commoditization of haka through the use of sporting events and commercials via one of the most popular sports and teams outside of the United States could have both negative and positive effects on maori (or possibly now Polynesian) haka culture. Positively by giving haka more exposure, but negatively in that it could introduce new structures (similar to Amy's project in relation to the new structures introduced in African Drumming pedagogy). I wish I knew more about Haka to talk about it further.
I wonder too how the commoditization of haka affects the traditional group in 1915. I feel like they would have strong personal ties to this practice because of the emotions they evoke when performing it. It brings out their energy and aggression needed for a sports match. Additionally, the adrenaline that is generated creates euphoria that could possibly be associated with their ritual. By making it into a commercial devalues the original intentions of the ritual. But I also agree with Jordan that it would gives haka more exposure. Perhaps the original group is fine with the commercialization of it. They could very well perform haka and still feel the rush and energy and meaning behind it even if it is used in other ways by other people. Just because it holds special meaning to them doesn't mean other people can't use it.. To me this is like how the same song can be sung by various people. Maybe a folk singer could sing a song acoustically with more meaning and feeling behind it than someone who sings it at Karaoke for fun. Ones intention is to express emotion while another is having fun.
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