Haka by staff at UK hospital - Photo / Twitter
A haka performed by nurses at a hospital in the United Kingdom has been deemed a form of cultural appropriation.
The video posted to Twitter by Tavistock Day Case Theatre shows staff performing a modified version of Ka Mate wearing white headbands and black paint.
The video has received more than 660,000 views since it was posted on Saturday.
The person who posted it described the video as their “passion and drive to beat Coronavirus from the whole Tavistock Hospital team, theatre, medical ward, hotel services.”
In the video the staff scream a chant, "This is the message we wish to affirm, you'll never beat us we hate you, you germ.
"Together we'll triumph with the strength from within. Mankind will destroy you, mankind will win."
Māori cultural advisor Karaitiana Taiuru (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Rārua, Tūwharetoa) says the haka is offensive to the Māori culture and disrespectful to the descendants of Ngāti Toa who created the Ka Mate haka.
One Facebook user Tric Malcolm said she came across the video over the weekend and messaged the person who posted it to let them know that it could cause offence.
“I sent a message to the person who posted it – as I thought their intentions toward educating people on the virus were grounded in compassion but their method was full of ignorance,” Malcolm wrote on Facebook.
Malcolm said the person replied and said, “I am absolutely devastated that we may have offended anybody at all, especially as our intentions were truly innocent. I have removed the post from Facebook. And I have informed all concerned of what we have done. I am deeply sorry and feel only true love and admiration for the indigenous New Zealand people.”
Meanwhile, Taiuru says he was surprised they didn't remove it from there too if they were genuinely upset.
