Te Rauparaha composed the famous haka Ka Mate circa 1820. The haka questions 'will I live, or will I die'. These days a shortened version of the haka is done, but the orginal started as follows;
Kikiki kakaka kauana!
Kei waniwania taku tara
Kei tarawahia, kei te rua i te kerokero!
He pounga rahui te uira ka rarapa;
Ketekete kau ana to peru kairiri
Mau au e koro e – Hi! Ha!
Ka wehi au ka matakana,
Ko wai te tangata kia rere ure?
Tirohanga ngā rua rerarera
Ngā rua kuri kakanui i raro! Aha ha!
Kei waniwania taku tara
Kei tarawahia, kei te rua i te kerokero!
He pounga rahui te uira ka rarapa;
Ketekete kau ana to peru kairiri
Mau au e koro e – Hi! Ha!
Ka wehi au ka matakana,
Ko wai te tangata kia rere ure?
Tirohanga ngā rua rerarera
Ngā rua kuri kakanui i raro! Aha ha!
Then is was followed by this part - the most famous haka ever composed and performed by the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks.
Ka mate, ka mate! ka ora! ka ora! Will I die, Will I die
Ka mate! ka mate! ka ora! ka ora! Will I live, Will I live
Tēnei te tangata pūhuruhuru This is the hairy man
Nāna nei i tiki mai whakawhiti te rā Who brought the sun and caused it to shine
Ā, upane! ka upane! A step upward, another step upward!
Ā, upane, ka upane, whiti te ra A step upward, another... the Sun shines!
The haka Ka Mate was composed by the famous Ngati Toa chief Te Rauparaha. Te Rauparaha descended from Hoturoa, who was born in the 1760's at Kawhia and was captain of the Tainui canoe.
During a period of imminent conflict against the powerful Waikato and Ngati Maniapoto iwi, Te Rauparaha journeyed from Kawhia to seek alliances with other tribal groups, one of those being Tuwharetoa who lived in the Lake Taupo region.
When he arrived at Te Rapa, which is located near Tokaanu he was told by Te Heuheu, the Paramount Chief of Tuwharetoa that he was being pursued by a war party from Ngati Te Aho, who wanted revenge for a previous incident involving Ngati Toa.
Te Heuheu directed Te Rauparaha to go to Lake Rotoaira to seek the protection of his relative Te Wharerangi.
At Lake Rotoaira, Te Wharerangi reluctantly agreed to assist Te Rauparaha and as the war party closed on their quarry guided by the incantations of their tohunga [scholar/priest] he instructed Te Rauparaha to climb into a kumara pit and for his wife, Te Rangikoaea to sit on top. By combining the spiritual qualities of a woman (“the Noa”) and of food, Te Wharerangi was able to weaken the tohunga’s power.
When the pursuers arrived, Te Rauparaha could feel the power of the incantations and is said to have muttered “Ka Mate! ka mate!” under his breath (Will I die!) and “Ka Ora! ka ora!” (or will I live!) when the Noa reduced the incantation’s effect. These lines were repeated many times coinciding with the waxing and waning of the tohunga’s power until eventually Ngati Te Aho were convinced by Te Wharerangi that Te Rauparaha had escaped towards Taranaki. It was then that he finally exclaimed “Ka ora, ka ora! Tenei te tangata puhuruhuru nana nei i tiki mai whakawhiti te ra!” (I live! I live! For it was indeed the wondrous power of a woman (“the Noa”) that fetched the sun and caused it to shine again!)
“Upane, kaupane”, means “to line up in abreast or in rows”, as one does to perform haka.
One could imagine his joy at not only eluding certain death by a mere whisker, but also coming out of the dark kumara pit into the light of day – “Whiti te ra! Hi!”cybershamans (karmapolice) / CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
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