Post by Kiwi Frontline on Dec 1, 2021 11:03:43 GMT 12
OFFICIAL AUTHOR OF ALL BLACKS’ HAKA WAS A MASS-MURDERER – Paul Verdon
Te Rauparaha has been described by some as legendary. The dictionary synonyms of the word include ‘heroic, celebrated, exalted and illustrious.’ So, from whose perspective could he be ‘legendary’? It is one thing to humour a Maori tribe’s sentiments. But most human beings would consider the man was a monster.
You would also imagine that international companies such as the All Blacks’ major sponsors, – normally so mindful of their public relations responsibilities – would be aghast if they actually knew what the ‘real’ Te Rauparaha had done.
But who could blame them for some confusion – because it’s all official? What has changed since the All Blacks began performing this haka many years ago is that, in 2014, the New Zealand Government officially recognised Te Rauparaha as the author of the haka and gave copyright to his tribe, Ngati Toa Rangatira. The law also set out a schedule of the history of Te Rauparaha and the ‘life and death’ circumstances in which he is supposed to have composed his haka. The Haka Ka Mate Attribution Bill was passed through Parliament without dissent.
However, some of us know that – in fact, not fiction – Te Rauparaha was responsible for massive Maori depopulation in the decades just before the British organised the Treaty of Waitangi with the Maoris in 1840. Such was the loss of life caused by him in New Zealand, but in the South Island in particular, wiping out near-entire tribal groups in many raids, that the British declared sovereignty of that island by right of discovery rather than cession later in 1840........
Read Paul’s full NZCPR guest commentary here > www.nzcpr.com/official-author-of-all-blacks-haka-was-a-mass-murderer/
Te Rauparaha has been described by some as legendary. The dictionary synonyms of the word include ‘heroic, celebrated, exalted and illustrious.’ So, from whose perspective could he be ‘legendary’? It is one thing to humour a Maori tribe’s sentiments. But most human beings would consider the man was a monster.
You would also imagine that international companies such as the All Blacks’ major sponsors, – normally so mindful of their public relations responsibilities – would be aghast if they actually knew what the ‘real’ Te Rauparaha had done.
But who could blame them for some confusion – because it’s all official? What has changed since the All Blacks began performing this haka many years ago is that, in 2014, the New Zealand Government officially recognised Te Rauparaha as the author of the haka and gave copyright to his tribe, Ngati Toa Rangatira. The law also set out a schedule of the history of Te Rauparaha and the ‘life and death’ circumstances in which he is supposed to have composed his haka. The Haka Ka Mate Attribution Bill was passed through Parliament without dissent.
However, some of us know that – in fact, not fiction – Te Rauparaha was responsible for massive Maori depopulation in the decades just before the British organised the Treaty of Waitangi with the Maoris in 1840. Such was the loss of life caused by him in New Zealand, but in the South Island in particular, wiping out near-entire tribal groups in many raids, that the British declared sovereignty of that island by right of discovery rather than cession later in 1840........
Read Paul’s full NZCPR guest commentary here > www.nzcpr.com/official-author-of-all-blacks-haka-was-a-mass-murderer/