Two written sources have been found for this haka. James Cowan (1926) mentions that

"Ka mate, ka mate, etc.", is only a portion of a very ancient Maori chant. The original song begins, "Kikiki, kakaka, kikiki, kakaka. Kei waniwania taku aro."

And Tuwharetoa historian Sir John Grace (1959) quotes a slightly garbled version of "Kikiki" in a humorous account of Te Rauparaha's humiliating experience when he revisited the Taupo district.

Tatau Pounamu

Peace-making and marriage feasts were closely associated. Hirini Mead (2003) explains that military conquest never brought about real peace, as the conquered group would rebuild their strength and at a later date would try to recover their lost land. What was needed was a rongomau, a peace accord with strong bindings; the strongest of these being an enduring peace secured by an arranged marriage. It was called tatau pounamu, a greenstone doorway; permanent, beautiful, and highly valued.

"In order to make the binding real, political marriages were arranged and so the parties were bound together in a symbolic marriage. Each partner to the marriage would be a person of standing in their iwi. It was nor until children were born of the marriage that the binding became real, since the children belonged to both sides. They could be relied upon to play their part in acting as symbols of the agreement and as mediators between the two sides.
(Mead, 2003)

The union of two social groups is similar to the marital union of two individuals; there is initial apprehension, then increasing knowledge of each other, climaxing in the death of one’s former independent state, and followed by the joy at attaining long-term security through mutual support. So the use of Kikiki would have been extended to express the emotions that would have been felt by every person involved in a greenstone door peace-making process in the months before, during and after the unification of the two tribes, as this English paraphrasing of Kikiki shows.

Kikiki kakaka! Kikiki kakaka kau ana! Kei waniwania taku aro, Kei tarawahia kei te rua i te kerokero!    He pounga rahui te uira ka rarapa.	We’re feeling very nervous, Stuttering, shaking and exposed! We're entering into a whole new set of relationships. as our secrets are revealed.
Ketekete kau ana, to peru kairiri: Mau au e koro e. Ka wehi au ka matakana. Ko wai te tangata kia rere ure Tirohanga nga rua rerarera, Nga rua kuri kakanui i raro Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora! Tenei te tangata puhuruhuru Nana nei i tiki mai whakawhiti te ra! Upane, ka upane! Whiti te ra!	Others chatter and grow excited But we're caught and can’t get out. We’re scared and fully alert. Who are these bossy people probing into our tribal secrets, privy to our private stories? We’ve lost our identity, we’re dead! No, we’re OK, and better than before! Courageous leadership has brought us security and peace! Together, side by side We are living in sunny days!

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