Kapa Haka, Cultural Permission and a Five-Week Deadline
A co-educational state school has entered a regional kapa haka competition for the first time in 12 years. The entry fee of $350 is paid, and the competition is five weeks away. The kaiako is a Pākehā teacher who has taught waiata from online videos. Three Māori students from the local hapū recognise one haka as belonging to their hapū; they say it is performed only with permission and at particular occasions. The principal argues that the school is celebrating Māori culture and that the competition is an educational event. The students are reluctant to raise it formally because they fear being seen as trouble-makers. The board of trustees meets in 10 days. The school has a Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership policy but no written process for cultural permissions. The kaiako has already taught the haka to 24 students and plans to add a pukana section from a video.
1. Explain the tikanga issues raised by the school's planned performance, including the relationship between whakapapa, mana and cultural permission.
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Whakapapa ties a haka to particular hapū and tūpuna. It is a taonga, not a generic performance item. Mana is affected both ways: performing without authority can diminish the hapū's mana and expose the school as having taken something that was not its to take. Online visibility is not consent; public availability does not transfer kaitiakitanga or the right to perform. The students are not being obstructive; they are identifying a boundary. Manaakitanga requires the principal to hear them without making them carry the risk of complaining. Rangatiratanga means the hapū decides the use of its haka. The school's partnership policy creates an obligation to seek permission early, not after teaching 24 students. The issue is not whether celebrating Māori culture is good in general, but whether the school has the right to use this particular haka. The pukana taken from a video compounds the problem because it separates the item from its context and authority.
2. Advise the principal on a process to resolve the issue before the competition. Include what should happen in the next five weeks.
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Within two days, the principal should meet the students with a Māori staff member or kaumātua, thank them, and ask what they are comfortable sharing. They should not be made to feel like complainants. Within five days, the principal should contact the hapū chair or kaumātua in writing and by phone, explain the plan, and ask for permission or guidance. The school should offer to meet on the marae. Teaching of the disputed haka should pause, and the pukana from the video should not be added. The board should be informed at its 10-day meeting. If permission is granted, conditions should be agreed in writing: occasion, version, dress, kōrero, recording, and koha. If permission is refused, the school should replace the item within three weeks with an approved waiata or a school-composed haka and rehearse it. The competition organisers should be told that the item may change. The deadline is real, but it is not a reason to override consent.
3. If the hapū grants permission with conditions, what conditions would be consistent with tikanga, and why?
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Conditions should name the hapū authority giving permission and limit use to the competition and perhaps one community performance. They should specify the correct version, pronunciation and any appropriate kōrero. The school should not post the performance online without separate consent. The programme should acknowledge the hapū and the item's whakapapa. A koha or reciprocal support may be appropriate. Students should be briefed on the item's history and the behaviour expected on stage. A hapū representative should be available to advise, and the permission should be reviewed after the event. These conditions keep the relationship alive and protect the mana of both the hapū and the school. They also give the school clarity. If the hapū says no, the school must accept no, because permission is not a negotiation over ownership.