Latest news with #haka
Reuters
3 days ago
- General
- Reuters
New Zealand committee recommends suspension of Indigenous MPs
A New Zealand parliament committee on Wednesday (May 14) recommended three Indigenous lawmakers be temporarily suspended from parliament following the performance of a haka during the reading of a contentious bill last year.
RNZ News
24-05-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
An 'uncle's' Māori-driven rugby camp taking the world by storm
Each camp begins with a kia ora and a hongi. Photo: supplied Admit it, we've all stood in front of the telly to passionately mimic the All Blacks performing "Ka Mate" - and it's not just Kiwis who do. From Aotearoa to Ireland to Japan to Mozambique, Troy Nathan has been touring the world for the past 10 years taking haka and rugby to young, aspiring tamariki of all different backgrounds and cultures. "They want to be future All Blacks regardless of if they're Kiwi or not," Nathan said. "As much as what we're doing overseas promoting our culture and sharing our kaupapa, it's also important for our Māori to understand what we're doing and know how much our culture is appreciated around the world." Haka Rugby Global is a programme with over 30 'born-and-bred Kiwi' coaches, balancing rugby with tikanga Māori, for children aged 8-16 years old. Each camp is kicked off with a pōwhiri, whaikōrero, waiata, and a hongi, and throughout the camp they learn a haka that is specific to the kaupapa. A poroporoaki (farewell) is led by the children at the very end. Each camp is kicked off with a pōwhiri, whaikōrero, waiata, and a hongi, with a poroporoaki (farewell) led by the children at the end. Photo: supplied Nathan said it changes the lives of children over the course of just three days, often leaving parents in tears. The reviews on Facebook show appreciation for a "a unique experience immersed in Māori culture for three days", one read. Another review stated their sons hadn't stopped talking about their experience and practised the haka everywhere they could. "Yeah it is a rugby camp, but there's more alignment with Māori culture," Nathan said. There have also been kids who have gone through the Haka Rugby Global system and became mentors for the younger generations. "To educate kids on a deeper level, that's a massive driving factor for us. But our vision is to utilise multicultural and rugby as a tool to help create future world leaders," Nathan said There are approximately 140 keen kids per camp and each round is funded by parents, it's the interest that keeps the coaches touring. This year, Haka Rugby Global will hit its 100th camp with the biggest one yet to happen in London on 8 August with around 160 kids registered, coincidentally two weeks shy of the Women's Rugby World Cup in England. Tamariki learning a specific haka. Photo: supplied Despite the high number of participants, Nathan said it was "easy" to keep the kids in line. "It's down to the multicultural. When we say, 'hope' (the action), everyone puts their hand on their hips. Whereas if you blow a whistle and you tell them to shut up, they're not going to, right?" "If you tell them to pūkana, everyone will pūkana together - that is the most powerful thing that we do, it's utilising the multicultural, and that's what brings in discipline." The tamariki have also adopted mana waves and words like "tu meke, mōrena, and ka kite" as well, and coaches are referred to as "uncles". Nathan said he does his mahi to show tamariki in Aotearoa that there are professional pathways abroad. "Everywhere I go I represent who I am and my people. It's not just for myself, we're not just representing our family, but we're representing everyone back home." The tino rangatiratanga flag at the front of a group photo. Photo: supplied Nathan (Ngāpuhi) grew up in West-Auckland and was an academy rugby player who ventured to professional rugby in Ireland, Italy, and Scotland respectively. He thought he'd be playing rugby forever. "I went through a transition period where I thought, well, if I finish rugby, I'll be in a rut." So, he propped up a few businesses and when he hung up his boots, he created Haka Rugby Global. "I feel, and especially Kiwis as well, we know how to work outside the box. I think that'd be something that we're brought up with - we know how to go from A to Z and not stumble at C." It was a kaupapa he doesn't want to fizzle out. "It's like a dopamine hit. You just want it again and again and again because you're with the boys the whole time, and you're having [heaps of] giggles and laughs, it's easy. It becomes natural, you want it again." [picture id="4K6Y3QX_pro_aciZ8R3n_jpeg" crop="16x10" layout="full"] Photo: supplied The camp for tamariki is one main driver, but Haka Rugby Global also softens the blow for former professional rugby players transitioning into work, he said. "That's a big focus point of ours because we want our people, especially in Europe that have gone out and played rugby, we want them to succeed as well. "The reason why boys go into a bit of a rut is because they miss the socialism. Like, there's nothing better than playing rugby and you get to travel to all these countries and go to hotels and just meet different cultures." For a lot of the coaches, it was still like being in the professional rugby realm, but they were getting their "wairua fix" through teaching others tikanga Māori, Nathan said. "If the All Blacks weren't [one of] the most dominant teams in the world, we wouldn't be in this situation, but I know deep down that it's the Māori culture, that's what it has done." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
ABC News
21-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
New Zealand delays vote to suspend Māori Party MPs
The New Zealand government has postponed a vote to suspend three indigenous MPs who performed a haka in Parliament.
RNZ News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Around 1000 protested proposed exclusion of Te Pāti Māori MPs
Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipa-Clarke was among those to perform a haka, at Parliament, after the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill, on 14 November, 2024. Photo: RNZ/ Samuel Rillstone About 1000 people gathered outside Parliament on Tuesday to protest the proposed exclusion of Te Pāti Māori MPs and what they see as punishment for exercising tikanga Māori in the house. The organisers said the haka was a form of Māori expression and they objected to the MPs potentially being punished for exercising tikanga Māori Their activation began only minutes after a brief debate on a recommendation to exclude the MPs, which was then adjourned until 5 June . Toitū te Tiriti kaikōrero (spokesperson) Eru Kapa-Kingi was one of the first to address the crowd and said the haka was much bigger than the rules of Parliament. "Our haka is a source of fear for this whare (house) even though when the All Blacks do it it's celebrated and when they use our reo and our kōwhaiwhai patterns on their companies as a form of marketing - that's when its cool to be Māori." "But when we haka in the name of liberation we are told to be quite and told to sit down." Kapa-Kingi said the haka was Māori culture, identity and power wrapped up as one. "There [are] a lot of MPs in that whare... they wish they could haka like us. They wish they could do what we're doing. They wish they could takahi on the beat. They wish they could sing in time and sing on tune" he said. Ngāti Toa rangatira Kahu Ropata explained to the crowd some of the meaning behind the haka. Ngāti Toa are tangata whenua of the region which includes Wellington and the descendants of Te Rauparaha who composed the haka Ka Mate. "Ka mate, ka ora. You've got two choices in life," Ropata said. "You make the right choice or the wrong choice. You can make the choice that makes you live or the choice that... ka mate koe." Te Pāti Māori's Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke interrupted the vote on the Treaty Principles Bill's first reading with a haka taken up by members of the opposition and people in the public gallery. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Te Pati Maori lawyer Tania Waikato told RNZ any punishment for practising tikanga Maori was unjust. "This was an expression of the utter frustration that at least 270,000 people were feeling against this bill," she said, referring to the submissions made on the Treaty Principles Bill. "This was the most racist, devise piece of legislation we have seen in our generation," she said. Eventually, Te Pati Maori MPs made their way outside and were greeted with a fierce rendition of the same haka - Ka Mate - they may be excluded for. Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi said waiting for the judgement to eventually come was like being on remand. "Many of us know somebody who is on remand, waiting for sentencing." "And they make you believe that they've done this to ensure that we had a voice in the budget [but] we always had a voice in the budget. Just because three [would be] gone there were still three that would here." Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Waititi said he did not need the government to prolong the "psychological warfare" the party would endure. Te Pati Maori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, who went viral for performing the haka in Parliament, told the crowd the power of the haka was evident by the reception it received around the world. "The fear is that we're too loud. We are [so] loud that we are literally rattling the foundations of this house. We've been kicked out of the gallery, we've been kicked out of Parliament, there are no more places to kick us out from." "It is literally that loud and it has echoed across every single nation in the world. That is the power of your voice." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
ACT asked for advice on range of punishments for Te Pāti Māori MPs
Te Pāti Māori's Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke interrupted the vote on the Treaty Principles Bill's first reading with a haka taken up by members of the opposition and people in the public gallery. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone The ACT party asked for advice on the full range of possible punishments for Te Pāti Māori MPs following last year's Treaty Principles haka - including imprisonment. The government members on the Privileges Committee recommended suspending Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer for 21 days as punishment for their part in a haka at the conclusion of the First Reading of the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill. MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, who started the haka but had since expressed contrition, faces a one-week suspension. The Committee found the MPs had behaved in an intimidating manner when they moved from their seats to face Act Party MPs. The Privileges Committee sought advice on possible penalties while preparing its recommendations. ACT MP Parmjeet Parmar, who is on the committee, asked if this could include a range of examples, including imprisonment, to "help put any proposed penalty in context". "ACT did not argue for imprisonment, but we like to keep our options open," a spokesperson for the party said. "The Committee sought advice on possible penalties, including international precedents with explanations of what actions led to those penalties. Dr Parmar asked if this could include examples along the full spectrum of responses, from the minimum up to imprisonment." Privileges Committee member and ACT MP Parmjeet Parmar. Photo: Supplied / NZ National Party When asked whether the party considered imprisonment an acceptable punishment for protest, the spokesperson said it supported the right to peaceful protest and to representation in Parliament. "ACT supports the right to peaceful protest. We also support the right of all New Zealanders to representation in a Parliamentary democracy. Te Pāti Māori threatened that right when they delayed the tally of a crucial vote by leaving their seats, out of turn, in an intimidating manner." Earlier on Tuesday, the debate on the Privileges Committee's report was adjourned until after the Budget. Leader of the House Chris Bishop moved that the debate be adjourned until 5 June to focus attention back on the Thursday's Budget. "This week is Budget week, and frankly, the New Zealand people expect us to focus on growing the economy and getting back to some sort of fiscal sustainability." Opposition parties opposed the motion. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
