NCEA Level 2 Te Ao Haka key terms

The world of haka: the broad field covering all haka and haka-related performance, including its histories, purposes, styles, and the skills needed to perform and understand it.

A structured, choreographed group performance discipline rooted in Māori tradition, combining movement, voice, facial expression, and often weapon or body percussion to convey messages and emotion.

A haka performed with weapons or aggressive, warlike movement, often fast and forceful, used to display strength, readiness, and skill in performance.

A haka style performed with weapons and marked by leaping movements, traditionally associated with war and displays of prowess and unity in performance.

A haka performed during a formal welcome ceremony, used to acknowledge visitors, establish relationships, and set the tone for the encounter between hosts and guests.

A ritual challenge offered during a formal welcome, traditionally involving a weapon or token placed before visitors to test their intent before they are welcomed onto the marae.

The formal Māori welcome ceremony that moves visitors from the gateway onto the marae, involving speeches, haka, waiata, and the joining of hosts and guests.

The open courtyard and surrounding complex where formal gatherings take place, including the wharenui and wharekai, serving as a central place for ceremony and community life.

A song or sung item, often performed alongside haka in formal contexts, carrying poetry, history, and emotion through melody and group singing.

A song performed to support, acknowledge, or reinforce a speech or haka, often following a whaikōrero to show agreement and add emotional weight to the occasion.

A song performed with expressive hand and body actions, often telling a story or conveying emotion, and commonly performed as part of a group repertoire.

Formal speechmaking, usually performed by skilled speakers on the marae, following protocols of acknowledgement, genealogy, and response to the occasion.

The carved meeting house at the heart of a marae, embodying ancestors and tribal history, and serving as a place for gatherings, sleeping, and formal ceremony.

Genealogy and layered connection: the recitation of descent lines and relationships that links people to ancestors, land, and the wider world, and underpins much haka content.

Ancestors, including those from the distant past and more recent generations, whose deeds, values, and names are often honoured in haka and song.

Knowledge and stories passed down through generations, including histories, genealogies, and traditions that give context and meaning to haka and other performance forms.

A gathering for learning, discussion, and the transmission of knowledge, where experts and learners share understanding of tradition, performance, and cultural practice.

A group that performs haka, waiata, and related items together, often in competition or formal events, demonstrating coordination, discipline, and collective identity.

A group or team, especially a performing group such as a kapa haka, whose members work together to present a unified performance.

The people who prepare and serve food and support the practical running of a gathering, an essential role that sustains the mana of the occasion.

Prestige, authority, and spiritual power that a person or group holds, which can be upheld, enhanced, or diminished through actions and performance.

The practice of caring for others with generosity, respect, and hospitality, a core value expressed through welcome, sharing of food, and attention to guests.

A leader or person of high standing, often expected to uphold the values and traditions of the group and to represent it with dignity and skill.

Customary rules and correct ways of doing things, including protocols for gathering, speaking, performing, and interacting, which guide behaviour and maintain order.

The specific protocol or set of rules observed by a particular group or on a particular marae, which may vary between iwi and communities.

A large kinship group or tribe descended from a common ancestor, with its own territory, history, and protocols that shape its performance traditions.

A sub-group of an iwi, made up of related families with shared descent and often a specific marae, forming an important unit of identity and community.

Haka performed by women, which may include particular movement styles, expressions, and roles within a performance, and is recognised as part of the wider haka tradition.

Haka performed by men, often emphasising strength, stance, facial expression, and forceful movement, and frequently featuring weapon use in certain styles.

The clearing or preparation of a space before performance or ceremony, and by extension the opening item or action that prepares the way for what follows.

A star, and in performance contexts a term used for a leader or standout performer who guides and anchors the group, sometimes also referring to guidance and navigation.

A facial expression involving widened eyes and protruding tongue, used in haka and other performance to convey intensity, challenge, emotion, and presence.

The protruding tongue used in facial expression during haka and related performance, signalling defiance, strength, and emotional intensity to the audience.

The rhythmic stamping of feet that sets and drives the beat in haka, providing a strong percussive foundation for the group's movement and chant.

A percussive element in performance, often involving body percussion or striking, used to keep rhythm and add energy to haka and waiata.

A song performed with poi, where a weighted ball on a cord is swung in coordinated patterns, combining rhythm, movement, and singing in group performance.

A stick game or performance using short sticks passed and struck in rhythm, developing coordination and often performed as part of a group repertoire.

A haka performed without weapons, focusing on movement, stance, facial expression, and chant, often used to convey messages of unity or tribute.

A topic, purpose, or underlying theme, often used to describe the subject or intention behind a haka, waiata, or gathering.