Police pepper spray Haka dancers at football game

Police in a small Utah town are being accused of overreacting after using pepper spray to break up a group of Polynesian men and boys performing a traditional dance called the Haka after a high school football game.

The police action came after a pair of officers unsuccessfully attempted to disperse the dozen or so performers who were blocking an exit after the Union-Uintah game Thursday night, the Deseret News and Salt Lake Tribune reported.

A form of the Haka has been popularized by rugby players in New Zealand who chant, beat their chests and gesture aggressively before matches. The Maori tradition also can include fierce facial expressions. Haka are now performed at football and rugby games around the world.

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The group reportedly was trying to boost Union's morale with the Haka as the players left the field.

Spectators, coaches and players told police that everything was fine and they should let the men perform, Jessica Rasmussen said, but officers asked them to make room and started using pepper spray.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/10/22/national/a162840D40.DTL#ixzz1bZazWfqQ

Here's a moderately interesting one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-lrE2JcO44 but it pales in comparison to seeing it in the flesh.

But I will never understand the Maori letting such a powerful piece of their culture and history be appropriated by athletes.

...and the Natives before that, going back to before the turn of the last century, have been performing the haka.

If it was ever 'appropriated' it was generations ago.

I don't understand why the Maori allowed something so profoundly Maori to be appropriated by athletes. The All Blacks are athletes.

I don't think worrying about its appropriation is necessary. By definition it is surely appropriation, but you have to place it in its context. The Maori explicitly approve of it -- at least judging by its acceptance by their leadership/government. For that I think it's a positive -- not a negative -- thing. The Haka is incredibly important to New Zealand.

Maori culture is very much alive in New Zealand today. I lived there for school for a while. It's a very unique thing.

EDIT: By the way, New Zealand is playing in the finals of the Rugby World Cup tonight. Go All Blacks!!!!

"I'm concerned our (Maori) culture is being abused by the overuse and inappropriateness of the haka when it is performed outside special occasions," Mr Love says.

"The haka in our culture is something which is regarded as special and should not be bastardised by sport."

http://www.3news.co.nz/Maori-leaders-at-odds-over-flash-mob-haka/tabid/1534/articleID/226469/Default.aspx#ixzz1bZkgCSPk

Maori culture is very much alive in New Zealand today.

That comment is just weird. Of course it's alive and well in New Zealand. Why wouldn't it be?

Sorry OP, didn't mean to derail your thread.

In the US, Native American culture is suppressed, ignored, or grossly misunderstood. In New Zealand, their indigenous culture is much more appreciated and integrated. Hell, I knew dozens of "white" Kiwis who spoke Maori.

I never claimed that every person of Maori descent approved of it -- and I'm certainly not denying the tensions that STILL exist between those of European descent and those who are Maori (believe me, I worked in an outreach program in Auckland and there are MANY racial tensions to be sure) -- but from my own experience from living on North Island there are plenty of people who love it -- including many leaders.

Here is a response from other Maori leaders that disagree that it is being "bastardized":

http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/5652323/Haka-in-good-heart-Maori-leaders

the Maori have allowed athletes to appropriate the haka. That was all it was, just a casual wondering, not a condemnation. I have no idea why my simple statement elicited such a reaction.

You can find folks that don't mind big white guys and athletes doing the haka, but I can find plenty that do, including many of my Maori friends.

I'm simply pointing out that most approve of its performance today. I'll leave it there.

But I'm happy to leave this discussion "there" as well..

How would you imagine they stop someone from "dancing?"

Please look up the roots of the haka. Who has done it. When and why. Thanks

But they have little power to prevent someone from appropriating it.

How would they "Not Allow" someone to do this? What powers of enforcement do they possess?

that would be bullying....to say nothing of the whole disturbing the peace/creating a fire hazard thing. It's not nice to prevent people from leaving with agressive dancing! And it's not like the cops didn't ask them to move (unsuccessfully) before they stepped it up.

Why didn't they do their thing somewhere OTHER than the exit?

I agree with this kid:

Police said many people in the crowd knew the group was going to dance, but the two officers and others didn't.

Spectator Shawn Mitchell said while he didn't view the dancers as a threat, the impromptu performance might have played a role in how police responded.

"If they're going to do something like (the Haka), maybe some planning could be done ahead of time," he said.

This is an awesome expression of sports prowess and a lot of fun. So entertaining to watch and it pumps up the teams.

I guess some cops don't want anyone to look mean except them - it freaks out their tender little selves.

Gawd, America seems to get more thuggish and idiotic by the minute...

Edit to add: My bandmate is from NZ so I've seen a few AllBlack videos ;)

Welcome to 'Murka