The haka with handbags. It is amusing. I guess.I hope its not seen as culturally inappropriate; I don't believe it is.
Turning your back on the haka is inappropriate (John Eales regrets that he once did) but this parody, while certainly not reverential, mocks the ABs, not the haka, for the the handbag incident.
I think?
Either way, we'll win on the weekend and that'll be the end of it.
2 comments:
I arranged Mark Sorensen to speak at a recent event. He was very impressive. Anyway, he also talked about a haka event. This South American player baracked the Black Sox relentlessly while they were doing the haka. Turns out the big mouth was the pitcher and so, standing there on the mound, this guy was exposed to ferocious baracking himself from the Sox's dug out. Maybe the baracking got to him, because he had a lousy game and then, distracted, he caught a ball in the face. Knocked completely out and badly fractured jaw. The next day in the dining hall where all the team's breakfast, this European player comes up to where the Sox are eating and asks whether they're happy to see the rude South American knocked senseless. One of the Maori players carefully wipes his mouth and then with a very doleful look on his face says something like, "He desrepected our haka and was cursed! Tapu!". Well, the foriegn player is a little shocked and sneaks off and starts whispering to his team mates. Next thing, you can see whispering going from table to table. The next day, the Sox front up to play Taiwan or somebody. Anyway, they get up to do the haka. The other team stands there very politely. Hands are locked respectfully by the sides and they have blank looks fixed on their faces. At the end of the haka, they bow a little to the kiwis and give them a polite round of applause. They obviously don't want to mess with the Tapu! Great story.
Excellent story. I respect the haka and the place that Tikanga in NZ society; I respect the ceremony and traditions of most societies to the extent that they're not offensive of basic human rights. I'm careful about what I say about some Iwi's attitudes to woman on the Marae.
The Eales story as a similar result to the Sorenson one. The late coach, Greg Smith, suggested the Wallabies continue their warm up during the haka, which they did, and in the resulting game were walloped. In his autobiography, Eales said that he regreted not respecting the haka and wondered if the result was in any way related. I greatly admire Eales for many reasons, this is one of them.
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