"Ka Mate" ([ˈkaˌmatɛ]) is aMāorihaka composed byTe Rauparaha, the historic leader of theiwi ofNgāti Toa of theNorth Island ofNew Zealand during theMusket Wars.
Te Rauparaha composed "Ka Mate" circa 1820 as a celebration of life over death after his lucky escape from pursuingNgāti Maniapoto andWaikato enemies.[1][2] He had hidden from them, on Motuopihi Island inLake Rotoaira, in akūmara storage pit while a woman (wāhine) by the name of Rangikoaea straddled the pit to hide and protect him.[3] 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:[1][2]
Kikiki! Kakaka! | Let your valor rise! Let your valor rage! |
Then follows the main body of the haka:
Ka mate, ka mate! Ka ora, ka ora! | It is death, it is death, it is life, it is life |
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"Ka Mate" was conceived as a brief energizing haka of thengeri type, where, in the absence of set movements, the performers are free toextemporize their chanting andmovement as they feel fit, without any need for synchronization.[4]
| External videos | |
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 "Ka Mate", accompanied by a translation — viaYouTube |
"Ka Mate" is the most widely known haka in New Zealand and internationally because a choreographed and synchronized version[4] of the chant has traditionally been performed by theAll Blacks, New Zealand's internationalrugby union team, as well as theKiwis, New Zealand's internationalrugby 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.[5] Before the end of the2003 Rugby World Cup, the performance of the Ka Mate by the All Blacks usually ended with a mid-air leap.[6]
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 andHika 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 learned how to perform.[7]
In an interview withESPN shortly before the2019 Rugby World Cup, All Blacks scrum-halfTJ 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:
There'sKa Mate and there'sKapa O Pango. When we're in Wellington we performKa Mate, we're paying respects to Te Rauparaha and the lands that he walked on. And then outside of that Reado [captainKieran Read] and myself will usually talk [on match eve] or earlier in the week about what we'll do; what haka we'll do for that week. And it's usually just a vibe thing; how we feel; how we feel like our footy's going and who we're playing against. There's no massive reason for doing either one except for when we're in Wellington we always doKa Mate.[8]
Incomplete list ofAll Blacks players that have led the Ka Mate version of the haka:
Numbers in brackets indicate how many times each player has led the "Ka Mate" haka. (correct as of 8 July 2023)
In total all 22 internationalrugby 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:
All of the above 60 games were won by the All Blacks except for one against the World XV on 18 April 1992.[15][a]Numbers in brackets indicate how many times each team has faced the "Ka Mate" haka.
On 14 November 2024, lawmakerHana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke –representingTe Pāti Māori as a Member ofParliament since 2023– protested a first reading of theTreaty Principles Bill that attempts to clarify interpretations of an 1840Treaty of Waitangi between the Māori andThe Crown by tearing a copy of the bill in half while leading "Ka Mate" with the rest of her party and other opposition compatriots.[17][18] Following this, theSpeaker,Gerry Brownlee, suspended Parliament for 20 minutes as well as naming Maipi-Clarke for her actions, suspending her from Parliament for 24 hours and docking her pay.[19]
Between 1998 and 2006,Ngāti Toa attempted to trademark "Ka Mate" to prevent its use by commercial organisations without their permission.[20][21] In 2006, theIntellectual Property Office of New Zealand declined their claim on the grounds that "Ka Mate" had achieved wide recognition in New Zealand and abroad as representing New Zealand as a whole and not a particular trader. In March 2011,New Zealand Rugby Union came to an amicable agreement with the iwi not to bring themana of the haka into disrepute.[22]
In 2009, as a part of a wider settlement of grievances, theNew Zealand government agreed to:
In 2021,Glenn Osbourne turned the body of the haka into aballad in C major.[25]
In the 2019DLC forCivilization VI,Gathering Storm, the main theme for the added Māori civilization is "Ka Mate" and "Pōkarekare Ana".[26] The theme has four renditions, each corresponding to a different era in the game. These renditions were composed byGeoff Knorr andPhill Boucher.[27]
