Ka Mate

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Ngāti Toa haka

title: "Ka Mate" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1820s-poems", "ritual-dances", "haka", "new-zealand-poetry", "rugby-football-culture", "songs-in-māori"] description: "Ngāti Toa haka" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ka_Mate" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Ngāti Toa haka ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Te_Raparaha,_chief_of_the_Kawias,_watercolour_by_R._Hall,_c._1840s.jpg" caption="[[Te Rauparaha]], Ngāti Toa chief, 1840s"] ::

"Ka Mate" () is a Māori haka composed by Te Rauparaha, the historic leader of the iwi of Ngāti Toa of the North Island of New Zealand during the Musket Wars.

Composition

Te Rauparaha composed "Ka Mate" circa 1820 as a celebration of life over death after his lucky escape from pursuing Ngāti Maniapoto and Waikato enemies. He had hidden from them, on Motuopihi Island in Lake Rotoaira, in a kūmara storage pit while a woman (wāhine) by the name of Rangikoaea straddled the pit to hide and protect him. Upon emerging from the pit and into the sun he was grateful to Rangikoaea and her husband Te Wharerangi, composing the Ka Mate haka as a result.

The haka as composed by Te Rauparaha begins with a chant: Kikiki! Kakaka! Kauana kei waniwania taku tara kei tarawahia, kei te rua i te kerokero! He pounga rahui te uira ka rarapa ketekete kau ana To peru kairiri mau au e koro e! Hi! Ha! – Ka wehi au ka matakana, ko wai te tangata kia rere ure tirohanga ngā rua rerarera ngā rua kuri kakanui i raro! Aha ha! | Let your valor rise! Let your valor rage! Let us ward off these haunted hands to protect our wives and children! For thee, I defy the storms of hell while my enemies stand there unknowingly! To think I would tremble to a pack of wolves either seeing fear or running away, because they would surely fall into the pit of shame as food for the hounds to chow down on in delight!!}}

Then follows the main body of the haka: Ka mate, ka mate! Ka ora, ka ora! Tēnei te tangata pūhuruhuru Nāna nei i tiki mai whakawhiti te rā Ā, upane! ka upane! Ā, upane, ka upane, whiti te rā!}} | It is death, it is death, it is life, it is life It is death, it is death, it is life, it is life Or do I see a hairy man who brought back the Sun so it can shine on me once more? Then I will put one foot in front of the other— One foot, then the other—until the Sun shines on me!}} ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/2015_Rugby_World_Cup_New_Zealand_vs_Argentina_(21391939030).jpg" caption="The All Blacks performing the Ka Mate haka"] ::

"Ka Mate" was conceived as a brief energising haka of the ngeri type, where, in the absence of set movements, the performers are free to extemporise their chanting and movement as they feel fit, without any need for synchronisation.

Use in rugby

| float = right | video1 = "Ka Mate", accompanied by a translation — via YouTube ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Adam_Blair_and_Issac_Luke_2008.jpg" caption="[[Issac Luke]] and [[Adam Blair]] of the [[New Zealand national rugby league team]] performing "Ka Mate""] ::

"Ka Mate" is the most widely known haka both New Zealand and worldwide because a choreographed and synchronised version of the chant has traditionally been performed by the All Blacks, New Zealand's international rugby union team, as well as the Kiwis, New Zealand's international rugby league team, immediately prior to test (international) matches until 2013, when a specific haka, "Te Iwi Kiwi", was used instead. Since 2005 the All Blacks have occasionally performed another haka, "Kapa o Pango". Since the introduction of "Kapa o Pango" the longest sequence of "Ka Mate" performances by the All Blacks is nine, which has occurred twice between 22 August 2009 and 12 June 2010 and also between 13 August 2022 and 19 November 2022. Before the end of the 2003 Rugby World Cup, the performance of the Ka Mate by the All Blacks usually ended with a mid-air leap.

Prior to 1985 the All Blacks haka was not performed with the usual performance, as most players of European ancestry had no full training on the ceremony. It took two Māori during this time (Buck Shelford and Hika Reid) to revolutionise the way it was delivered, culminating in a style close to the original haka. The non-Māori players from this point on learnt how to perform.

In an interview with ESPN shortly before the 2019 Rugby World Cup, All Blacks scrum-half TJ Perenara, the team's designated haka leader at the time and a Māori who was raised in the region where Te Rauparaha lived, explained the process of selecting which haka will be performed before a given match:

List of players that have led Ka Mate

Incomplete list of All Blacks players that have led the Ka Mate version of the haka:

Teams who have faced Ka Mate

In total all 22 international rugby union sides that have played the All Blacks have faced "Ka Mate" at least once before a test match. There are ten teams that have faced either "Ka Mate", "Kapa o Pango", another haka or no prematch haka:

There are 12 international rugby union sides who have always faced "Ka Mate" before a match against the All Blacks:

  • (16)
  • (7)
  • (7)
  • (7)
  • (6)
  • (5)
  • (4)
  • World XV (3, 1 win)
  • (2)
  • (1)
  • (1)
  • (1)

All of the above 60 games were won by the All Blacks except for one against the World XV on 18 April 1992. Numbers in brackets indicate how many times each team has faced the "Ka Mate" haka.

Use in politics

On 14 November 2024, lawmaker Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke representing Te Pāti Māori as a Member of Parliament since 2023 protested a first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill that attempts to clarify interpretations of an 1840 Treaty of Waitangi between the Māori and The Crown by tearing a copy of the bill in half while leading "Ka Mate" with the rest of her party, along with other opposition MPs and even the public gallery. Following this, the Speaker, Gerry Brownlee, suspended Parliament for 20 minutes and called for the gallery to be cleared, as well as naming Maipi-Clarke for her actions, suspending her from Parliament for 24 hours and docking her pay.

Ownership

Between 1998 and 2006, Ngāti Toa attempted to trademark "Ka Mate" to prevent its use by commercial organisations without their permission. |title=All Blacks fight to keep haka |work=news.bbc.co.uk |date=16 July 2000 |access-date=3 May 2008 |title= Iwi threatens to place trademark on All Black haka|work=The New Zealand Herald |date=22 May 2005 |access-date=3 May 2008

In 2009, as a part of a wider settlement of grievances, the New Zealand government agreed to: :"...record the authorship and significance of the haka Ka Mate to Ngāti Toa and ... work with Ngāti Toa to address their concerns with the haka... [but] does not expect that redress will result in royalties for the use of Ka Mate or provide Ngāti Toa with a veto on the performance of Ka Mate...".

In popular culture

In 2021, Glen Osborne turned the body of the haka into a ballad in C major.

In the 2019 DLC for Civilization VI, Gathering Storm, the main theme for the added Māori civilisation is "Ka Mate" and "Pōkarekare Ana". The theme has four renditions, each corresponding to a different era in the game. These renditions were composed by Geoff Knorr and Phill Boucher.

References

References

  1. Pōmare, Mīria. (12 February 2014). "Ngāti Toarangatira – Chant composed by Te Rauparaha". Ministry for Culture & Heritage.
  2. "Haka Ka Mate Attribution Act 2014 Guidelines". Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment.
  3. (2017). "Motuopihi Island".
  4. (2002). "Sport, Tribes, and Technology: The New Zealand All Blacks Haka and the Politics of Identity". Journal of Sport and Social Issues.
  5. (19 March 2014). "Rugby Facts: The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a True Fan".
  6. (27 November 2014). "Haka then and now: it used to be more funny than frightening".
  7. "Buck Shelford Leads... The All Blacks Haka Revival". Rotorua Travel Secrets.
  8. Bruce, Sam. (15 September 2019). "Understanding the All Blacks' supreme success".
  9. (10 September 2022). "Ex-All Black John Timu: 'Rugby union has given me everything'". [[Stuff (website).
  10. (23 October 2003). "Spencer to lead Haka". ESPN.
  11. (8 September 2011). "Ka Mate! Zinzan Brooke's guide to the Haka". the42.
  12. France, Centre. (23 October 2011). "Aulnat : Franck Shelford, un All Black est prêt pour le sacre de la Nouvelle-Zélande".
  13. World, Rugby. (9 August 2023). "Who leads the haka for the All Blacks?".
  14. "Rugby World Cup Results 2015: New Zealand vs. Georgia Score, Updated Fixtures". Bleacher Report.
  15. (19 April 2022). "LOOKING BACK ON THE WORLD XV CENTENARY SERIES".
  16. (24 July 2009). "The blackest year in All Black history".
  17. (14 November 2024). "MP rips up bill, leads haka as NZ parliament erupts over Waitangi treaty bill – video". [[The Guardian]].
  18. (14 November 2024). "Watch: Haka interrupts vote for the Treaty Principles Bill". [[RNZ]].
  19. Manch, Thomas. (14 November 2024). "'Shame': Outcry as Treaty Principles Bill debated in Parliament". [[Stuff (company).
  20. "Ngāti Toa Rangatira Letter of Agreement".
  21. (11 February 2009). "New Zealand Maori win haka fight". [[BBC News]].
  22. "Match Fit Season 2 Ep 3 {{!}} DOCUMENTARY/FACTUAL {{!}} ThreeNow".
  23. (14 February 2019). "Maori Theme – Atomic (Civilization 6 OST) Pōkarekare Ana; Ka Mate".
  24. "Civilization VI: Gathering Storm (Original Game Soundtrack)".

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1820s-poemsritual-danceshakanew-zealand-poetryrugby-football-culturesongs-in-māori