The History Of The Maori Warriors And The Haka Tribal War Dance

The origin of Maori people can be traced back to Hawaiki in Polynesia. They arrived in Aotearoa between (900-1400) AD. The word Aotearoa refers to now as New Zealand which means "Land of the Long White Cloud". The origin of the word Maori is originated from Ma-Uri which means children of heaven. The Maori people were given other names such as Vikings of the Sunrise due to the fact that they were strong warriors. Maori social organization consists of tribes, and each tribe was led by a chief who acted as a ruler, and it was believed that each chief should belong to an ancestral lineage that goes back to the gods. They lived in settlements and they were protected by their strong warriors. they survived by hunting and cultivation of food.

The Maori Belief system

The Maori believed that the creation started by the marriage of heaven which knows as the sky father "Ranginui" and earth mother "Papatuanuku" and they had so many children, and they believed that every creation has two entities wairua which means a soul and Mana which resembles some form of spiritual essence. Mana can be explained in our modern days as the same concepts of power, nobility, strong presence and authority. An important part of the Maoi believe system was their interpretation of sacredness which knows as tapu, the tapu was introduced in their society in order to control and to protect the use and access to mana, and from there the rituals was practiced in order to define the proper ways to access mana. Tapu could be applied to humans and things as well. They consider the males as tapu, but in one condition that they are not slaves, and women as well in times of menstruation and childbirth. Any hostile activity that threatens the well being of the tribe is considered as tapu as well. Rituals have a unique role in their lives and they were applied in particular situations and in case of committing a tapu. these rituals were practiced by chiefs of the tribe.

The Maori Warriors

The warriors start their preparation and training at a young age in order to build their skills,stamina and strength. They used some specific tools in order to train certain parts of the body, for example they used an instrument named POI in order to train their wrists and to make the joint more flexible, in addition they were taught the basics strategies of war, including some important lessons such as to keep their sight focused on one the strategic points on the battlefield for example the shoulders of their enemy in order to predict their moves and when and whom will attack. Maori warriors considered death on the battle field as the greatest honor that anyone can achieve. On the battlefield, they formed a war party named HAPU. The hapu party consisted of 100 men and sometimes the women had joint the battle. They used to attack the enemy tribes by sneaking in quietly or by pretending that they are just travelers or on a hunting mission in order to get closer to the enemy territory and to attack them at dawn.

Maori Weapons

Patu is considered as a melee weapon used in a close combat, patu has two edges and it was made from bone, wood and volcanic stone. they were used as currency and as form of compensation in cases of death , injury and in peace talk to end hostility.

The word Wahaika means Mouth of the Fish, this weapon was made from wood or whalebone. The Maoi warriors used This weapon in melee combat. The weapon has sharp edged and it took a human figure shape near the handle. The Wahaika also sued as a symbol of authority in speeches and ceremonies when the holder wanted to deliver a point.

The taiaha considered as weapon of authority and it was used by the Maori chiefs. it was five feet in length and two and a half in width. The Taiha has two edges , one edge took the shape of a face and a tongue and the other end was a blade.

The Haka war dance

Haka Dance | source The Maori tribes considered the Haka as an ancestral war cry and it was used on the battlefield in order to scare the enemy also to raise their morals. The Maori warriors sued to use aggressive facial expressions, loud grunts, strong foot stamping and slabbing their body in a rhythmic way. they considered the haka as a way to call upon the god of war in order to aid them and let them defeat their enemies.

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