World Indigenous Games competitors Indigenous Maori Athletes all the way from New Zealand were invited to the Ermineskin Powwow, where they performed the HAKA.

The Ermineskin Pow Wow this year had a little GEM, Māori athletes from the World Indigenous Games took time out of their schedule to share culture in Enoch, Ab. Guess they wanted to check out some Indigenous Culture from this land.

They even shared one of their ceremonies in the in the middle of the Ermineskin Cree Nation Arbor!

The Māori War Haka was originally performed by warriors before a battle, proclaiming their strength and prowess in order to intimidate the opposition, but haka are also performed for various reasons: for welcoming distinguished guests, or to acknowledge great achievements, occasions or funerals, and kapa haka performance groups are very common in schools.

The 2017 World Indigenous Nations Games are happening in Canada for the first time. Previously held in Brazil, they take place in Edmonton from July 2 to 9.

Canadians will be introduced to cool sports, like Xikunahati, a Brazilian game similar to soccer except that only the players' heads can touch the ball.


If Brazil's games were any indication, fans can expect an archery competition where the target is a small fish, 40 metres away, and competitors aim for its eye.

On Monday, this is the story the women of the New Zealand rugby sevens delivered to the world.

 Following their loss to Australia in the gold-medal game, the gutted Black Ferns solemnly marched in front of their fans, formed a line and performed a version of the Haka, the traditional Maori war dance.

They were in tears. Their supporters were in tears. In the centre of the line stood Portia Woodman, the fierce star winger of the team whose father Kawhene and uncle Fred played for the All Blacks. As she danced, she wept openly.

That moment — so intimate, so powerful — has since blown up on social media and it’s now playing to a global audience. You can decide for yourself what that says about our world. But the Olympics, which are so deeply flawed on so many levels, still produce scenes like this; scenes we remember, scenes that move us to the core of our being.

Afterwards, New Zealand captain Sarah Goss said: “We came here to win a gold medal and we’re bringing back a silver. But silver is still good in New Zealand’s eyes and we hope we have done them proud.”


There is an Olympic ideal. Sometimes it’s harder to find than than a black pearl but when you see it, you know it and you saw it in the women of New Zealand on Monday night.
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A passionate wedding haka that moved a New Zealand bride to tears is making everyone else cry too after being watched more than 19m times.

Ms Armstrong, 21, told the BBC she was "blown away" by the performance. She said the haka was a sign of respect from her husband's best man and family not, as some have commented online, an attempt to intimidate him. "They are quite strong, the men in their family," she said.

A haka - with its shouting, body-slapping and exaggerated facial expressions - is used in traditional Maori culture as a war cry to intimidate the enemy, but also to welcome special guests and at celebrations.


In it, they watch with emotion as the groomsmen and guests surprise them with a heartfelt performance of the traditional dance, before joining in themselves. "I wasn't planning on jumping in until one bridesmaid did," said Ms Armstrong. "I felt the need to show love and respect back. I was really blown away."


Women do not normally perform the haka in Maori culture but she said they can do at weddings. The nearly three-minute video ends with the couple emotionally embracing the performers.
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Did You Know? When the Matariki star cluster rises into the skies of New Zealand, it signals a month-long celebration across the country of the Māori New Year.

Matariki is the Māori name for the small cluster of stars in the Taurus constellation that rise during the New Zealand winter. Matariki has always been an important time in the Māori calendar. For early Māori, Matariki was strongly connected to the seasons and was an indicator of the forthcoming year.

Matariki means ‘eyes of the god’ or ‘little eyes’. Some say that when Ranginui, the sky father, and Papatūānuku, the earth mother, were separated by their children, the god of the winds, Tāwhirimātea, became angry, tearing out his eyes and hurling them into the heavens. Others say Matariki is the mother surrounded by her six daughters.


The Māori New Year signals a time for connecting with, and giving thanks to, the land, sea and sky. It’s also a time for the community to farewell those departed and acknowledge the year gone by, and to turn to the future and celebrate new beginnings.


For many Māori, the first new moon after the rise of the Matariki signals the start of the New Year celebrations. The Matariki Festival in Auckland will see the city come alive with live music performances, Kapa Haka, theatre, poetry, family events, dance and art..

 Pokarekare Ana is a traditional New Zealand love song written in Māori, probably communally composed about the time World War I began in 1914. It has been translated into English, and also enjoys widespread popularity in New Zealand as well as some popularity in Australia.

The Māori words have remained virtually unaltered over the decades, with only the waters in the first line being localized. For example, some versions refer to Rotorua, a lake in the North Island. It is then associated with the story of Hinemoa swimming across the lake to her forbidden lover, Tūtānekai, on Mokoia Island. However, there have been many different English translations.

"Pokarekare Ana" was originally written predominantly in triple time, with the verse in duple time, but has been more commonly heard in duple time since World War II


Pōkarekare ana, ngā wai o Waiapu Whiti atu koe hine, marino ana e: The waves are breaking, against the shores of Waiapu, My heart is aching, for your return my love.

The video of a moving, passionate haka, a Maori war cry, performed by the comrades of three fallen New Zealand soldiers, has connected with people across the globe.

The New Zealand Herald‘s Paul Harper wrote about the incredible tribute carried out by the 2nd and 1st Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment for Corporal Luke Tamatea, 31, Lance Corporal Jacinda Baker, 26, and Private Richard Harris, 21, at their funeral service at the Burnham Military Camp in Christchurch on Saturday, August 25.

The video was put on YouTube by the New Zealand Defence Force, and has now attracted 1,458,635 views (as of this post). Harper writes that the tribute was also tweeted by CNN host Piers Morgan to his 2.6 million followers.

Army spokesman Major John Gordon told the Herald that the haka represented their “outpouring of emotion.”

“Our military is a small organization,” Gordon told the Herald, “and people tend to all know each other.” (SOURCE)

The video speaks for itself