Waiata, haka & Co.
As resolved in my last blog post, I watched Whale Rider and I have to say, I quite enjoyed it.
…aaand it showed me how little I actually know about Maori culture. So since Paikea and other characters are seen performing traditional songs and dances in the film, I thought I might have a look at them.
Waiata are songs or chants in general, which come in many different forms.They usually feature a highly poetic language which makes use of allusions, metaphors, and vivid imagery to get their respective point across to the audience. The three most common types of waiata are oriori (lullabies), waiata tangi (laments), and waiata aroha (sad love songs). Oriori are not merely composed to pacify young children and lull them to sleep, but primarily to contribute to their earliest education, especially for children of rank. Waiata tangi can lament a wide range of misfortunes that can befall an individual or a tribe, such as illness, death, or loss of land, while waiata aroha tell of the sad aspects of love, such as separation, loss, or physical distance of lovers. However, waiata tangi and waiata aroha are not always easily distinguishable. Less frequent uses of waiata include waiata patere(songs of defiance composed by women), waiata kaioraora (cursing songs), waiata ruri (amorous songs), and waiata mata (prophetic songs).
Haka can be regarded as a large and very distinguished subclass of waiata, but also the generic term for all Maori dance. It is particularly famous because of New Zealand’s rugby team and seeing the All Blacks perform their haka is certainly a sight to behold:
However, as with waiata, there are several forms of the haka that can be distinguished. The fiercest type is the haka peruperu, which is only performed on the battlefield with weapons. Also performed with weapons are the haka puha, which could be seen as the defensive counterpart of the haka peruperu, since it, too, is a call to arms, but in their pa and their homes instead of the battlefield. The haka tutungarahu is performed with weapons as well and traditionally performed by a war party to proof their readiness for battle to elders and experienced warriors. More common today are those haka which are performed without weapons, such as the haka taparahi, a ceremonial dance, the haka powhiri, which is performed during a welcome ceremony, or the haka ngeri, which is performed for motivating a group to reach their goals.
Moteatea are ancient, microtonal chants, which repeat a single melodic line, but also songs sung in a traditional mode in general. To prevent interruption of a moteatea, which would be a bad omen, subgroups of singers take turns breathing, so the tone is carried on without a pause.
Karanga are ceremonial call and response calls given at the start of a powhiri (welcoming ceremony), traditionally by women only. The purpose of the karanga is to determine the motivation of the visiting party: do they come in peace or to wage war?
Last, but not least, the karakia is a ritual chant or an intoned incantation, which accompany and validate ritual activity. The form of words is set and they are recited rapidly, using traditional language. Similarly to the moteatea, mispronounciation, hesitation or omission are considered bad luck, inviting disaster. There are karakia for a wide range of aspects.
Although the songs and dances of Whale Rider make a little more sense to me now, I feel like I have just discovered the tip of an immense iceberg, which would take too much time and space for a blog post to explore fully. I had certainly fun exploring, however.
