The Maori Haka

I finally decided to post my postcards online.  Here's one of the first official Postcrossing cards that arrived while I was in Japan.  It's from Katherine in NZ.

The traditional Maori challenge, the Haka

It came with this awesome hei matau stamp:

Hei matau are fishhook bone carvings that symbolize strength

Together with Katherine's handwritten message is a computerized text which writes, "Here a Maori g[r]oup greets strangers as they would welcome them to a village - aggressively! Everyone joins in, wearing traditional dress.  The red skin is from beating chest and thighs.  The aggressive display/challenge, called "Haka", was done by the men to prepare mind and body for combat but was also used as a welcome or greeting (this is what we can do - so you'd better not try anything!) and once respect was gained, everyone was friendly.  The Haka is often now used as a display by New Zealand sports teams, perhaps with an intimidating effect.

This reminds me of the Haka my male classmates did for our Philippine History class last year for the inter-class Battle of Bel Field.  More on that maybe next time.  Here's a video for your viewing pleasure: