April 27, 2023
Haka challenge in Māori-Aboriginal Anzac ceremony
A Māori co-organiser of the only Indigenous ANZAC Day service in Western Australia says it’s a shame it wasn’t part of official commemorations.
Leon Ruri says it shows there is still a long way to go to acknowledge non-white cultures in Australia.
Haka For Life, a mental health and wellbeing charity, held its second Ngarla- Maumahara – Our Remembrance service with the Western Australian Noongar people in Perth’s Supreme Court Gardens.
Mr Ruri says a corroboree and a haka were performed to honour the dead – but most Australians would have no idea of their cultural significance.
“For me, the colonial mindset that existed many years ago, is still present when they say to us that we can’t haka, and that we can’t corroboree, because the ANZAC day services are solemn – and I am just so passionate that you know, every time I go to an ANZAC Day service I just want to haka,” he says.
More than 200 people gathered to honour Indigenbous Anzacs – and they will do it again next year.