(NAME-MCE) Haka isn’t a war dance or taunt

[Anselmo Villanueva]

Below is a letter to the editor that appeared in the local paper, the
Eugene Register Guard.  Jefferson High School is located in Portland,
Oregon.

Anselmo
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http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=32892&sid=5&fid=2

December 10, 2007   Letter to the Editor    Register Guard Newspaper  Eugene OR

Haka isn't a war dance or taunt

Don Kahle really dropped the ball in his Nov. 30 column "Dixon, Leiken
and doing the haka," criticizing Portland's Jefferson High School
football team for performing a haka before their games.

Kahle claims that the haka is a "dance-taunt" and a "war dance"
designed to taunt the opposition. How culturally ignorant!

Here are the facts: The haka is not a stereotypical war dance. It has
not been performed in anger since 1860. It is, however, a
much-cherished tradition in my homeland, New Zealand, where it has
been performed by the All Blacks rugby team since 1905.

The haka has spread by cultural diffusion throughout the Pacific. It
is performed at the University of Hawaii, Brigham Young University and
anywhere Polynesian people have emigrated.

That is how it reached Jefferson High — through the 20 or so Tongan
students who attend that school. In the words of Tongan player Leni
Feaomoeata, "Jefferson has the reputation for losing, being dismissed.
We wanted to defend our school, to show we have heart."

Labeling the haka a "taunt" is gross cultural ineptitude. A haka is
sensational and crowd-pleasing but not insulting or demeaning. Quite
the reverse. The haka is a paean to life, to confidence, to joy. No
New Zealand official ceremony is complete without an opening haka.

The queen, several U.S. presidents and a century of international
sports teams have faced a haka without visible harm.

It's past time for Kahle to expand his outlook on what a true
multi-cultural society means.

Don Macnaughtan

Eugene