Aggressive? He looks ill.
Posted on 11/02/2003 5:56:32 PM PST by .cnI redruM
Rugby football, via television, has brought to the world an ancient and aggressive form of South Pacific dancing, not the beautiful girls in hula skirts with leis around their necks to welcome American sailors in search of rest and recreation, as Technicolor movies told the world was how dancing was done in the islands. The four Pacific Island teams at the Rugby World Cup have shown off dances of a different kind to the world, the best moments of prematch drama.
It was a moment of gripping drama as the All Blacks performed their Haka, now stylised and theatrical, and the red-clad Tongans, pointing fingers, faced them with their sipi tau or greater spontaneity.
Those dances, with their posturing and pointing and lolling tongues, are ancient challenges.
The people of the South Pacific - Polynesians, Melanesians and Micronesians have been there for thousands of years, drifting down from the Malay Archipelago in search of lebensraum from about 1 500 BC onwards till they reached their southern extremity, New Zealand, somewhere around 950AD.
This was an area off many islands. (Polynesia is a Greek word meaning just that - many islands.) Naturally it became an area of many languages as the various groups, in their segregation, learnt to speak in different ways.
(The word for sky in Fijian, Tongan and Samoan is the same - langi. In Maori it is rangi.)
Being humankind these people fought, producing for a short period of their lives the practice of cannibalism, eating what the islanders euphemistically called long pigs, ceremonially rather than as a regular supplement to their diet of yams, fish and ordinary pigs. Being fighting people they developed wardances.
There are many, many forms of wardances. The Haka performed by the All Blacks, for example, is only one form of wardance generically called the Haka - and people still design their Hakas. The All Black Haka dates back to 1905 when the first All Blacks toured the UK. It was not nearly as stylised and theatrical as it has become since television started zooming in on the players.
And the Fijians perform the cibi, the Samoans the siva tau and the Tongans the sipi tau.
The All Blacks may not sing the Maori version of their national anthem above an isolated mutter, but they certainly can perform their team's Haka with enthusiasm.
The All Black haka, according to Maori writer Timoti Karetu, was composed by the chief Te Rauparaha in about 1820 when he was fleeing for his life after a battle. He hid in a kumera pit, and his wife sat on top of its opening.
The Haka starts off with a growl by the leader and then the team jerk into aggressive posturing and chant.
The words of the All Black Haka:
Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora! Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora! Tenei te tangata puhuru huru Nana nei i tiki mai Whakawhiti te ra A upa ... ne! ka upa ... ne! A upane kaupane whiti te ra! Hi!
The English translation:
I die! I die! I live! I live! I die! I die! I live! I live! This is the hairy man Who fetched the Sun And caused it to shine again One upward step! Another upward step! An upward step, another ... the Sun shines!! Hi!
The Fijian rugby team has been using the Cibi (pronounced Thimbi) since 1939, though a dance antedating that. When the Bauan warriors returned from a victorious campaign they would dance the Cibi while women praised them with sings and obscene gestures. This became the war cry cibi ni I valu.
The rugby team started using it in 1939, the year of the Fijians' first tour to New Zealand.
The captain, Ratu Sir George Cakobau, was later Fiji's paramount chief as the Vunivalu and also became the Fiji's governor general. He asked Ratu Bola of the Navusaradave in Bau, for a Cibi. Bola obliged and taught the team the war dance which they still use.
The Cibi:
Ai tei vovo, tei vovo E ya, e ya, e ya, e ya Tei vovo, tei vovo E ya e ya, e ya, e ya Rai tu mai , rai tu mai Oi au a viriviri kemu bai Rai tu mai, rai ti mai Oi au a viriviri kemu bai Toa yalewa, toa yalewa Veico, veico, veico Au tabu moce koi au Au moce ga ki domo ni biau E luvu koto ki ra nomu waqa O kaya beka au sa luvu sara Nomu bai e wawa mere Au tokia ga ka tasere
English translation:
Make ready, make ready Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Make ready, make ready Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Look hither, look hither I build a breastwork for you Look hither, look hither I build a breastwork for you A cock and a hen They attack, attack, attack It is tabu for me to slumber Except to the sound of breakers Your ship is sunk below Don't think I'm drowned too Your defence is just waiting To crumble when I prick it
The Samoans have their chant proclaiming their bellicose manliness the Siva Tau. They composed it for the 1991 Rugby World Cup, replacing the "gentler Ma'ulu'ulu Moa" on tour. It introduced the world to the word Manu - the Warrior.
The words of the Siva Tau:
Le Manu Samoa e, ia manú le fai o le faiva Le Manu Samoa e, ia manú le fai o le faiva Le Manu Samoa lenei ua ou sau Leai se isi Manu o le atulaulau Ua ou sau nei ma le mea atoa Ma lo'u malosi ua atoatoa Ia e faatafa ma e sósó ese Leaga o lenei Manu e uiga ese Le Manu Samoa! Le Manu Samoa! Le Manu Samoa e o mai i Samoa! Hi!
English translation:
The Manu Samoa, may you succeed in your mission The Manu Samoa, here I come There is no other Manu anywhere Here I come completely prepared My strength is at its peak Make way and move aside Because this Manu is unique The Manu Samoa The Manu Samoa The Manu Samoa reigns from Samoa.
Tonga has the Sipi Tau, whose team's nickname is the Ikale Tahi, the Sea Eagle.
Their finger-pointing wardance looks the most naturally bellicose of the lot.
The words of the Sipi Tau:
'Ei e! Ei e! Teu lea pea tala ki mamani katoa Ko e 'ikale taki kuo halofia Ke 'ilo 'e he sola moe taka Koe 'aho ni teu tamate tangata 'A e haafe mo e tautua'a Kuo hu'i hoku anga tangata He! He! 'Ei e. Tu Teu peluki e molo moe foueti taka Pea ngungu mo ha loto fita'a Keu mate ai he ko hoku loto Ko Tonga pe mate ki he moto Ko Tonga pe mate ki he moto 'Ei e! Ei e!
English translation:
I shall speak to the whole world The sea eagle is starved Let the foreigner and sojourner beware Today, destroyer of souls I am, everywhere To the half back and the backs I have shed my human characteristics Maul and loose forwards I shall mow And crunch any fierce hearts you know I drink the ocean and consume the fire To death or victory my will is fine That's how Tonga gives to her motto To her motto, Tonga gives all To her motto, Tonga gives all Hi! Hi!
MMMMMM!!!!
Aggressive? He looks ill.
It makes the hair stand up on your arms... and hope you don't meet those guys in a dark alley.
Talk about a warm kiwi reception :o)
We all had dinner after they scared the living daylights out of me.
Not kidding about this one. ;-)
I love to watch the close-ups of the opposing team while the All Blacks do the Haka. They feign indifference or contempt, but it is written on their faces that they are a) intimidated and b) envious.
-ccm
-ccm
,,, street theatre, nothing less. Psychological panelbeating as pre-match foreplay. Two hundred years ago you would have been dinner.
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