Vaccine demonstrators have demonstrated “ka mate,” a Māori haka, composed by Te Rauparaha, the war leader of the Ngati Toa tribe, at his rallies against vaccine mandates and pandemic restrictions over the past few weeks.
The Ngati Toa tribe, or “iwi” in Māori, referring to the tribe’s ancestry or “tupuna”, said in a statement, “We do not support their position and we do not want our tupuna or our iwi from their messages. Get connected.”
“Our message to protesters who wish to use Ka Mate is to use a different Haka. We do not support the use of Ka Mate for this purpose.”
Although there are many variations of the Haka composed by different tribes for different uses and occasions, the “Ka Mate” is the most widely known as it has been performed by the All Blacks in international rugby test matches for decades.
It includes a terrific display of rhythmic foot-stamping and chanting, eye rolling and tongue sticking out.
New Zealand, which has one of the lowest rates of Covid-19 in the world, has struggled this year to fight the highly contagious delta version of the coronavirus, prompting Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to move from an elimination strategy to living through the lockdown. was forced to. Viruses with high immunization.
Ardern aims to vaccinate 90% of those eligible before the lockdown is lifted.
About 81% of the eligible population has received two doses of the vaccine, but Ardern said on Monday that health officials were struggling to access some young Māori because of misinformation about vaccines.
“So it’s not just an access issue. We’re trying to do much more than that and from the provider conversations I’ve had, it’s one of the things we’re all struggling with,” Ardern told the state broadcaster. Told TVNZ, referring to the propaganda.
As of 13 November, 76% of Māori have received a single dose of a vaccine, while 60% were fully vaccinated.
Officials reported 173 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, bringing the total number of infections in New Zealand to more than 8,500.
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