The Story of “Kaipahua Kura”, Kahuku’s Very Own Haka

Today’s feature for JV Week is about a new part of our Red Raider tradition. Many of you have probably seen the new JV Haka. Here it is if you haven’t seen it yet.

What some might not know is that the haka was made for Kahuku. Here are the words and it’s English translation.

Ko Wai Matou? Kaipāhua Kura
Who are we? We are the Red Raiders
Ko Wai Matou? Kaipāhua Kura
Who are we? We are the Red Raiders
Ko Wai Matou? Kaipāhua Kura
Who are we? We are the Red Raiders

Eke ake Hi
We will move Onward and Upward
Eke ake Hi
Through this team then on to the next challenge
Eke ake Hi
Forward Never backwards and Upwards never down
Eke ake Hi
We will go On and then Up through the season
Eke ake Hi
We will always strive to go Onward and Upward (The boys respond with Hi to say “Yes” or “I Agree” “I will do my part”)

Kei te papa pakanga
On this battlefield – Our Football Field
He iwi kotahi
We are unified we are one
Mo nga iwi Whanui
For our families and Community (Who have been through much)
Tangata kairakau
We will stand as Warriors (For them)
Tangata Maia
We will stand Brave
Tangata Wehi kore
And We will never retreat, there will be no surrender
Kaua ka mate wheke
We won’t die like Octopus (Retreating from Danger)
Ka Mate Ururoa Kaipahua
But we will fight with courage like Hammerhead sharks, Like the Raiders of the past.

Ruturutu – Hi
We will Tackle Hard
Makamaka – Ha
We will Play as a unified Force
Ruturutu – Hi
Tackling Hard
Makamaka – Ha
We will play as a team

Ko Wai Matou? Kaipāhua Kura HI
You may wonder who are we? We are the Red Raiders (We Continue the legacy)

Pretty mean huh, but there’s more to the haka than just chanting and moving in sync. In every haka, there is an individual meaning and background within the words and motions. The man who created this haka is Seamus Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald is a Special Instructor at BYUH and a Manager/Cultural Specialist in the Aotearoa section of the Polynesian Cultural Center. Fitzgerald’s son, #73 Kawika Fitzgerald, plays on the team. We are grateful to have Seamus Fitzgerald for our 1st ever guest interview here at KahukuNation. Here is his story of how “Kaipahua Kura” came to be.

Seamus Fitzgerald Cultural Specialst

The JV Haka basically happened because I am one of those Maori who watch the 100′s of videos on YouTube of high schools and colleges in the USA doing Maori Haka and 99% of the time I feel offended. Once in a while I see a good one and it makes me feel proud that our noble dance from our little island in the sea has left a mark all over the world and is being seen by 1000′s. But most of the time I don’t like that the words are butchered, motions are mangled, and tempo is put on hyper-drive. I had been asked in 2003 by Aunty Marcie Mo’o in the P.E. Dept. to come into Kahuku and help with haka and I didn’t want to. I didn’t like how at that time the schools all over the island and mainland were doing Ka Mate and didn’t know anything about it.

This year my son, who was homesick for New Zealand and had never played football at all, tried out for JV and made the team. The coaches took him in and have been patient with him as he tried to learn the game as well as his position. I ended up on campus during “hell week” and my son first asked me if I would teach the team a haka. I guess the other players had asked him so I started thinking about it. As I stood there watching the Varsity train with my wife Jelaire, who is a Red Raider Alumni Class of 1992, I thought about the football program that has grown to be the Pride of the North Shore. Watching those boys that night doing bear crawl after bear crawl, I couldn’t help but think about what happened last year and how the senior students never got a chance to vie for the State Football Title. I also thought about how being a Red Raider for many of them is a life long goal and one of the highlights of their life. With all these thoughts in my head, coach Joe Macatiag, an old friend, came up to me and said “Bro, can you teach these boys about the haka?” Whether I taught haka or not, I knew they were gonna do haka anyway. And I felt a little concerned about my son doing Tika Tonu, and his friends and families back home in NZ seeing videos of him on YouTube, because they’d expect more from him. So it was time to walk the talk. I told Coach Joe I’d teach them about haka and also write one for them. The haka would be simple, not very long, but it would be theirs and no one else’s.

The inspiration behind the words is basically how I see the Red Raiders as an outsider. I didn’t attend Kahuku High School but I’ve lived in the community on and off since 1994 and I am very familiar with their legacy. I’ve watched them play and I’ve been a part of the Gameplan Football Academy and seen the player’s talent and heart. If someone was to ask me ‘how would I describe the Kahuku Red Raiders’ the haka is how I would describe them, it is not derogatory to their opponents at all – the haka is to themselves and is simply a reminder of who they are, their legacy, who they represent, and how they need to play. It is a gift from our family to the school and especially the team and coaches. A small token of appreciation for taking my boy in and making him feel welcome when he was homesick for Aotearoa. I Thank Iraia Bailey for his inspiration. Go Big Red!!