HAKA

 Sep 29, 2021

HAKA

Many many moons ago there was a brave chief called Te Rauparaha that guarded a place called Ngati Iwi. Te Rauparaha had a lot of enemies that would hunt him down and kill him. Because there were enemies hunting Te Rauparaha he thought that he must do something about it, so he went on a long journey to find more warriors to help Te Rauparaha. 

On Te Rauparaha’s journey he finally found a place where other chief’s were happy to help, that place was called Lake Rotoaira. When another chief called Te Wharerangi told Te Rauparaha that he can stay and that his tribe can be his protection if the enemies find him. Later in the day Te Wharerangi alerted Te Rauparaha and said that the enemies are coming so Te Rauparaha thought that in a potato pit is not where the enemies would find a chief because it is not tapu at all. As Te Rauparaha hid in the dark pit he asked a strong wahine to guard the entrance, her name was Te Rangikoaea. Te Rangikoaea listened out for the enemy's chants in case they were near. As Te Rauparaha was in the pit he whispered to himself saying “Will I die, will I die, Will I live,  I will live, and will I ever see the sun shining again.” While Te Rauparaha was saying that, he could hear footsteps coming closer and closer to him. Soon when Te Rauparaha could hear the footsteps going more quiet he jumped out and said “I live, I live and I can see the sun shining again!” 

That's when Te Rauparaha went back to his home and told everyone about his story and he told them what he was saying to himself in the potato pit. Te Rauparaha told his story to his kids and his friends and they made it into a strong haka of Aotearoa and they passed it onto their kids who passed it onto their kids who passed it onto their kids and that went on and on until it reached you. This is how the haka ended, WHITI TE RA!!