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April 28, 2022
Kalgoorlie RSL tries to silence Anzac haka
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira
Posted On April 28, 2022
Download AudioMaori living in the West Australian mining town of Kalgoorlie are outraged they were told to not perform a haka at the town’s ANZAC dawn ceremony.
Kaumatua Maihe Nikora says the haka has been feature of the ceremony for years, but relations between Māori and the Kalgoorlie Returned Services League have deteriorated under the current president.
He says the president told him the day before the ceremony that the haka would not be part of it.
He and other community members decided to defy the order but waited until the crowds dispersed.
“And the people who heard it came up, even Australian people, and they cried, they were moved to tears, and they asked ‘why was this not done earlier?’ and I said ‘on purpose. I waited,’ and they got upset about the request from the president of the Kalgoorlie RSL not to do the haka because it’s a place of sanctity,” Mr Nikora says.
He says the community intends to formally object to the order.
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