The
"Invincibles" performed this haka
in 1924-25, and the
2005 ABs revived it in a modified form.
It compares the All Blacks
driving energy to the elemental forces that continue to
shape New Zealand.
Taringa
whakarongo!
Kia rite! Kia rite! Kia mau!
Hi!
Ki-a whaka-whenua au i a-hau! 1
Hi! Au-e, Hi!
Ko Aotearoa e ngu-ngu-ru nei!
2
Au, Au, Au-ë Ha!
Ko kapa o pango e ngu-ngu-ru nei!
Au, Au, Au-ë Ha!
I ahaha!3
Ka tū te ihi-ihi
4
Ka tū te wana-wana.
Ki runga ki te rangi
5
E tū iho nei
E tū iho nei. Hi!
Ponga rä! 6
Kapa o Pango,
Au-e, Hi!
Ponga rä!
Kapa o Pango,
Au-ë, Hi!
HA!!!
Listen
up now!
Get ready! Line up! Hold fast!
Let me be one with the land!
New Zealand is rumbling here!
The team in black is rumbling here!
Face up to the fear
Fight the terror
To the sky above
Fight up there,
high up there. Yeah!
Our shadows fall!
Team in Black!
Yeah!
Silver Fern!
Team in Black!
Yeah!
HAHH!
Origins
Kapa
o Pango is a slightly modified version of the haka Ko
Niu Tireni that
was used to help the All Black "Invincibles" win all
32 games during their 1924-25 six nation tour.
Kia
whakangawari au i a hau. I au-e! Hei! Ko Niu Tireni e haruru nei. Ka tu te
ihiihi.
Ka tu te wanawana
... full
haka
Get
ready for the clash.
Yeah! Ha!
New Zealand is rumbling here.
Face
up to the fear
Fight the terror
And
the Invincibles' 1924 haka was derived from the
opening and closing stanzas of the ancient phallic
haka Ruaumoko. See
below.
Line by
line
These words, and their accompanying actions, pump up the
All Blacks' testosterone and adrenalin outputs to the
sky-high levels needed for international rugby.
1.
Kia whakawhenua au i ahau! .
Let me be one
with the land.
Both
the land and the team are vibrating with tremendous
pent-up energy, just beneath the surface.
This phrase is a variation on Kia whakataa hoki au i
ahau, Let
me rest before commencing,
a common introduction to Ruaumoko and other
haka.
2. Ko kapa o pango e ngunguru nei!
The team in black is rumbling here!
Rumbling with testosterone! These lines are modified
from the opening lines of the ancient Ngati Porou battle
haka, Ko Ruaumoko e ngunguru nei...
(see below)
Ruaumoko
is the god of earthquakes and volcanoes (story).
New Zealand is on a major tectonic fault line, and life
here is greatly influenced by recent, and continuing,
large earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
In the Ruaumoko haka, this earth-shaking
volcanic imagery is used metaphorically in a description
of the arousal, explosive release and consummation that
is felt in the divine/human creative process. This in
turn is a metaphor for the testosterone-fueled passions
felt in battle, while here it hints at the similar
build-up of tension, the explosive release, exultation
and post-match quiescence felt in top-level rugby.
3.
Au, Au-e Ha!
I ah-a-ha!
These are visceral affirmative team responses to each
claim made by the leader.
The explosive breathing and arm-pumping stimulates
adrenalin release, energising the team-members' bodies
and focusing their minds.
The same is seen and heard in other cultures in street
rallies ("What do we want? Peace! When do we want it?
Now!) and in football grandstands (Aussie, Aussie,
Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!).
Teams from Wales, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga respond with
similar powerful chants adapted from their rich cultural
traditions. It is a mystery to me why other teams
opposing the All Blacks just shuffle around in
pyjama-suits, losing both their focus and their mana. (below)
Tu
An
old Polynesian word, stand.
For
Maori, tu can
also mean stand tall, stand fast,
make a stand, engage in combat.
...Tu-mata-uenga
'He who stands fierce eyed'
The god of battle, the spirit that
energizes the All Blacks.
4.
Ka tu te ihiihi, ka tu
te wanawana Face up to the fear, fight the
terror.
An adrenalin rush! There are layers of meanings here.
Variations on these lines are used in many old
pre-European Maori chants, and are still often used at
the end of a haka today, especially of the haka
Ruaumoko.
The
phrase was also used to describe Tu-mata-uenga,
the god of battle, and are found in Uenuku
(see
below),
a 19th century instruction book by Tuta
Nihoniho on preparation for tribal war.
Nihoniho wrote about "te hapaitanga a Tu-te-ihiihi,
a Tu-te-wanawana"
the
arousal of Tu the Fear, of Tu the
Terror, although
those words could be more prosaically translated as the
arousal of the courage to stand up to feelings of
apprehension and terror.
They
can also be found the haka Ko Ranginui (see
below)
composed by Arapeta Awatere for the Royal Visit in 1953.
The words reminded the visiting Queen of the renowned
fighting spirit of Maori in WW2,
although the translation at that time was of an ugly one
spreading fear and terror.
5.
Ki runga ki te rangi
To the sky above
Nihoniho's instruction book also notes that the
warriors' legs will attain the heavens (ie. they will
achieve the impossible) if they are fully unified in
action. Once again, see Uenuku
below.
6.
Ponga ra!
Our shadows fall!
In the translation released by the NZRU, this is
translated as "Silver Fern!"
The ponga, or silver fern, Cyathea
dealbata, is a tree-fern unique to New Zealand. It
has water-conserving hairs on its underside, which make
the underside look silver. Tree-ferns grow profusely in
NZ, especially on the edge of the forests, and were very
familiar to NZ's rural British colonists, who called all
tree-ferns 'pungas'.
The silver ponga fronds could be laid on forest floors to
guide to guide war parties at night, and are still used to
guide hunters back home.
Thus the "silver fern" was used as an emblem on the
uniforms of NZ sportsmen, guiding them to their desired
goal.
But Ponga ra! Ponga ra! is the opening line of the
1880s version of the old haka Te Kiri Ngutu (see
below).
And Sir Apirana Ngata translates these words as The
shadows fall! The shadows fall! a warning
of the spiritual darkness falling across communities as
others snatch their land from them.
The old word for "darkness" in Western Polynesia was
"Ponga," and later this was shortened in East Polynesia to
"Po." (See the full
darkness list)
When you go into a grove of 3-to-7 metre tall tree-ferns
in the NZ forest, you find that underneath, at their
centres, they are indeed very dark. Dark, formless and
primordial. Hence the old Polynesian name of "ponga" for
our tree-ferns.
So
when the All Blacks shout Ponga ra! perhaps they
are identifying themselves as primordial forest giants
whose shadows are about to darken the enemy-held
territory and re-take possession of it.
Structure
and Development
Performances
of the commonly-performed haka Ruaumoko often
have had the Ka
tu te ihiihi... lines added to the end.
Lardelli has taken these familiar quotations from Ruaumoko,
modified them, and then at the end, he has
added the opening line of Te Kiri Ngutu.
For those who can follow spoken Maori, this is just a
few brief quotations, with nothing new, and without the
lengthy poetic stories of older hakas. Some Maori have
been disappointed by it, with one critic comparing its
brevity to an English fable that goes "Once upon a time
they all lived happily ever after."
But this haka is for performance by non-Maori
speakers and for performance to non-New Zealanders, and
it has to be brief. So it relies on repetition to build
up intensity - E
ngunguru nei, e
ngunguru nei --
Au, Au-ë Ha! Au, Au-ë Ha! -- Ka tū te, ka
tū te -- E tū iho, e tū
iho -- Ponga rä, Ponga rä -- Kapa o Pango, Kapa o Pango!
And the familiar quotations remind more knowledgeable
listeners of the powerful stories of those classic haka.
The
throat-cutting gesture
At
the end of the haka, each All Black glares at his
opponents, cries "Ha!" and then draws a clenched fist
with an extended thumb across his throat, while his
eyes bulge and his tongue protrudes.
The
symbolism to most people is obvious: someone is
getting his throat cut. The message seems to be that
the opposition are going to get slaughtered.
This
gesture has upset many Australians: Wallabies coach
John Connolly has called for this haka to be banned.
Vital
energy on a knife edge
Derek
Lardelli explained his reason for including this
gesture.
"Kapa
O Pango ends with the word 'Ha,' or the breath of
life. The words and motions represent drawing vital
energy into the heart and lungs."
"The right arm searches for the 'Ha' on the left
side of the body, while the head turns to the right
also symbolically seeking vital energy.
"Then the right hand hauls that energy into the
heart, lungs and air passages, and the eyes and
tongue signal that the energy has been harnessed
before it is expelled with the final 'Ha.'
In traditional Maori use, the cupped hand is drawn
across the throat to show energy being dragged into
the body. But by doing this with a raised thumb, Mr
Lardelli has modified it into a knife-wielding
gesture, to show that each team member is at the
cutting edge of personal performance. He gave this
explanation.
"Playing rugby at this level, with this
intensity, is the cutting edge of sport. The
players are on the knife edge. If they win they
are heroes, if they lose they are taken apart."
Derek
Lardelli
Ngati
Porou, Rongowhakaata, Ngati Kanohi and Ngai Te Aweawe.
Lardelli is a principal tutor at Tairawhiti
Polytechnic's School of Maori Art and Design, as well
as a tohunga moko, visual artist, carver, kapa haka
performer and tutor, composer, graphic designer and
researcher of whakapapa, tribal history and kaikorero.
He has facilitated and participated in numerous
exhibitions and workshop programmes both in New
Zealand and overseas.
He is regarded as one of New Zealand's finest moko
artists. He has been prominent in reviving the art and
explaining its spiritual significance to audiences
throughout the Pacific. Each moko he creates is
carefully researched to reflect the whakapapa, history
and particular interests of the person receiving it.
Derek lives in Gisborne with his wife and children.
Sources
of Kapa o Pango
Ruaumoko
Ko
Ruaumoko e ngunguru nei!
Hi Au! Au ! Aue ha!
Ko Ruaumoko e ngunguru nei!
Hi Au! Au! Aue ha!
I aha aha
E ko te rakau a Tu-nga-werewere! I ha ha!
He rakau tapu na Tutaua ki a Uenuku.
I patukia ki te tipua ki o Rangitopeka,
Pakaru te upoko o Rangitopeka,
Patua ki waenganui o te tau ki Hikurangi,
He toka whakairo e tu ake nei.
He atua! He tangata! He atua! He tangata, ho!
He atua, he atua, tau Paretaitoko.
Kia kitea e Paretaitoko te whare haunga!
I ha ha! Kia whakatete mai o rei, he kuri! Au!
I Ahaha
Na wai parehua taku hope kia whakaka te rangi
Kia tare au! Hi!
He roha te kawau!
Hi!
Kei te pou tara
Tu ka tete, ka tete! Tau ha!
Ko komako, ko komako!
E ko te hau tapu
e rite ki te kai na Matariki pakia,
Tapa reireia koi tapa!
Tapa kononua kaiana tukua!
I aue hi!
I ahaha
Ka tu te ihiihi
ka tu te wanawana
Ki runga i te rangi
e tu iho nei
Hi!
Hark
to the rumbling of the Earthquake Demon!
Hi Au! Au ! Aue ha!
It is Ruaumoko who trembles and stirs!
Hi Au! Au! Aue ha!
I aha aha
It is the rod of Tu the Suspended One!
A sacred rod given by Tutaua to Uenuku.
It strikes the monster Rangitopeka,
It breaks Rangitopeka's head
Splitting the ridge of Hikurangi,
from where a carved rock emerges.
It is divine ..human ..divine ..human, Oh!
Divine! divine! strange Paretai-toko.
Paretai-toko sees the musky house
Ah ha! where the dog is ready to bite! Ah!
Ah, Haa!
In my ecstasy I see the sky enflamed
I gasp for breath! Ah!
A
soaring cormorant
!
Yeah!
The spike is plunging in
It keeps grinding, grinding away! Attacking!
Then the bellbird sings!
The sacred wind blows gently
Like the food of the stars. Clap!
Saturated indeed is the valley!
From the deep narrow cleft the rod is now
withdrawn.
A shout! Of exaltation!
Face up to the fear!
Confront the terror!
As high as the sky!
Challenge it right up to there!
Yeah!
I
mua o to haerenga atu ki te whawhai,
me whakaatu te waewae ki o wahine, ki
o tamariki, ki o koroheke, ara he tutu
ngarahu tona ingoa.
E kore e ngaro i o wahine te titiro to
waewae - te atatutanga, te korapatanga
ranei.
Ka kitea e koe o wahine e ngangahu
haere ana i te taha o to matua, o nga
matua ranei, te hapaitanga a
Tu-te-ihiihi, a Tu-te-wanawana,
ka mohio tonu koe ka kai to waewae ki
te whetu, ka ngau ki a Papatuanuku e
takoto nei.
Before
you go forth to fight, display your legs
to your women, young folk and old men in
what is termed a war-dance.
Your women will never fail to observe
the omens of the dance - the correctness
of attitudes or mistakes made.
When your women are seen by you
advancing with distorted faces by the
side of your column, or columns,
arousing Tu the Feared One, Tu the
Terror, you then know that your legs
will assail the stars in the heavens and
the Earth Mother below.
Ko
Ranginui - composed
for the 1953 Royal Visit.
Ko
Ranginui te Atua
Ko Papatuanuku te Wahine
A ha ha!
Ka tuku taku ihi atua
Ka tuku taku he tangata
etc
(Descriptions
of Tangaroa,
Ruamoko, Tanemahuta)
Ko Tu-mata-uenga
Ngangahu ake nei te weriweri
Ngangahu ake nei te tipua Ka tu te ihiihi,
ka tu te wanawana.
Ki runga ki te rangi
e tu iho nei! Hei!
Whakakau aku waka, hei!
Takitimu, Te Arawa, Tainui, Mataatua....
etc...
Ranginui
is the God
Papatuanuku is the Earth Mother
They reared my divine ancestors
They reared my human ancestors
etc...
(Descriptions
of the deities
of the sea, wind and forest)
There is Tu, the
angry-eyed war god
He pouts, this ugly one
He grimaces, this ugly one Spreading
fear
and terror.
Even into the sky
which stretches above!
The canoes appear, yes!
Takitimu, Te Arawa, Tainui, Mataatua....
etc...
Te
Kiri Ngutu - lament for stolen
territory (Nihoniho,
1887)
Ponga ra! Ponga ra!
Ka tataki mai Te Whare o nga Ture!
Ka whiria te Maori! Ka whiria!
Ngau nei ona reiti, ngau nei ona taake!
Te taea te ueue! I aue! Hei!
Patua i te whenua!
etc... All
of Kiri Ngutu here.
The
shadows fall! The shadows fall!
There is chattering
in Parliament
And Maori are being plaited as a rope
Rates and taxes are biting!
The teeth cannot be withdrawn! Alas!
The land will be destroyed!
etc...