haka

Example Sentences

• "After each of my retinue were presented to the chief, partaking of the honour of the ougi, or salutation, the hákà, or dance of welcome, was performed; this was commenced by our entertainers, who placed themselves in an extended line, in ranks four deep. This dance, to a stranger witnessing it for the first time, is calculated to excite the most alarming fears; […]"
• "A "Haka" is the native dance, answering to the corroboree of the Australian aboriginals, and we were anxious to see it. […] Later in the evening, however, the complaisant Herekiekie entertained a small and select party at a "Haka" in his "whare" or house (pronounced wharry). It was exactly what I expected. The performers, all male, stood in a row, one, slightly advanced, acting as fugleman. They shouted and gesticulated with the most hideous and revolting gestures, grimaces, and yells."
• "[T]he children might get up and dance in the middle of their sums. Matawhero might stand up and lead a haka if I'm not careful. Oh dear."
• "An already febrile atmosphere within the ground before the start had been stoked still further when France's players formed an arrow formation to face down the haka, and then advanced slowly over halfway as the capacity crowd roared."
• "The Maori haka ritual has been made famous by the All Blacks, New Zealand's national rugby team. Before each match, the All Blacks face their opponents and engage in a synchronized display of hand-slapping, feet-stomping, chest-pumping, tongue-wagging, and eye-popping chanting and dancing designed to intimidate their opponents. The All Blacks' version of the haka is called ka-mate, a war haka or peruperu. […] But hakas are not restricted to war; they are also used as a welcome to strangers, as part of a funeral, or as part of various celebrations and ceremonies."
• "[T]hey hoisted him up to the ridge pole and lighted the fire; they began to haka, when they were tired of that they sang songs, […]"