MAORI MUSIC - HAKA

MUSICAL CONTEXT
Maori music originates from Polynesian music and is basically the same as that of Tahiti, Hawaii,
Tonga, Samoa, and other islands that share this similar culture. Over the past two hundred years,
Polynesian music has been greatly influenced by European ideas and has changed: old instruments have
been cast aside, and music is now mainly used for personal enjoyment as opposed to religious purposes.
The Maori people’s instruments consisted of “those which are struck or tapped,” or percussion
instruments, and “those which are blown,” such as flutes.
There are five distinct periods of development in Moari Music, the first being the traditional
period. This period began during the first Polynesian settlement of New Zealand about one thousand years
ago, and lasts until the arrival of Europeans in the late eighteenth century. This period characterized by
religious uses of song and dance, and the transmission of these songs and dances from generation to
generation. The second period of development in Moari Music is called the first European period,
beginning in 1769 and lasts for about fifty years. During this time, the European way of singing over a
wide range of notes was imitated, and as was the Western scale. Next we have the missionary period,
which is the most significant period of musical transformation. Almost all of the Maori people were
converted to Christianity and psalm singing became a national pastime. After this period, the secular
period arose, when Maori music was popularized, however this also came with loss of land and life, and a
great reduction of the Maori population. The last period is called the modern period, which lasts until
now, and consists of new innovations that we see in modern music. This is also a period of the revival of
old musical Maori traditions.
In class today, we are performing the haka, which is a ceremonial dance in Maori culture. It is
performed by a group with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted
accompaniment. Although it is commonly associated with traditional battle preparations of male warriors,
haka can be performed by any gender and is often performed during social functions of Maori culture.
Haka is the generic name for all types of dance or ceremonial performance that involve movement. The
tūtū ngārahu​ involves jumping from side to side, while in the ​whakatū waewae​ no jumping occurs. The
movements of this dance are quite free and performers are expected to express their feelings. Haka could
represent a group of instruments, where different parts of the body are representative of different
instruments. All parts of the body combine to express different emotions.
A BRIEF HISTORY
The Māori people originated from settlers of East Polynesian descent, specifically from a
homeland called Hawaiiki. The settlers travelled from Polynesia to New Zealand in distinct canoe groups
which many Māori people use to identify their heritage today. The first of the Māori people arrived in
New Zealand in roughly 950 AD. where they began to diverge culturally from the Polynesians. In general,
the people lived off of the land hunting birds and fish as there were no large native animals on the island.
Māori were initially pre-literate tribal people whose tools were mainly stone, and whose
economic and political organization was based on kinship. This is why the Māori tradition still often
shares history and art through aural communication. There are two main ways the Māori identify
themselves: through iwi and waka. Iwi are independent tribes that an individual may be a part of, and
waka is shared lineage between two Māori individuals that connect them to the same initial canoe group.
Today, Maori people make up roughly 18% of all New Zealand people and are the most culturally
distinct minority settling on the island today. They are very proud of their ethnic culture, and just like the
Indigenous people of Canada, there is a lot of regional variation within the Māori culture. Māori do not
discern between those that are full-blooded Māori or if they are mixed. Usually, people tend to identify as
Māori if they are 50+% Māori, but those with any percentage of Māori blood are free to decide if they
would like to participate in the culture.

CULTURAL BACKGROUND
Traditional Māori beliefs originated from Polynesian culture. Many tales within Māori mythology
are analogous with stories across the Pacific Ocean. The Māori people were free to follow their practices
until the arrival of Europeans. At this point, much of Māori religion and mythology was supplanted by
Christianity.
For performance, Māori people have Kapa haka (literally "haka team"), which is still popular
today. It includes haka (posture dance), poi (dance accompanied by song and rhythmic movements of the
poi, a light ball on a string), waiata-ā-ringa (action songs) and waiata koroua (traditional chants).
Oral folklore was used by Māori to preserve their stories and beliefs across many centuries. In the
19th century, European-style literacy was brought to the Māori, which created opportunities for historical
documentation in books, novels and later television. Māori language use began to decline in the 20th
century with English as the language through which Māori literature became widespread. Traditional
Māori music or Te Pūoro Māori is composed or performed by Māori, the native people of New Zealand,
and includes a wide variety of folk music styles, like Waiata, Mōteatea, Karanga, Taonga and pūorooften,
often integrated with poetry and dance.

In addition to these traditions and musical heritage, since the 19th-century European colonisation
of New Zealand Māori musicians and performers have adopted and interpreted
many of the imported Western musical styles. Contemporary rock and roll, soul, reggae and hip hop all
feature a variety of notable Māori performers.