New Zealand on Sunday reclaimed the world record for the largest haka fair after more than 6,000 people performed the legendary Maori war dance, dethroning France.
The record was broken in deafening fashion at the Eden Park rugby stadium in Auckland, where thousands of men, women and children combined on the pitch to complete the traditional domestic challenge involving vigorous movements, stamping feet and rhythmic shouting.
A referee confirmed that 6,531 participants had performed the “Ka Mate” chin, an interpretation made famous by the All Blacks rugby team, who performed it immediately before Test matches.
France had held the world record since September 2014 when 4,028 people slapped their thighs and roared the song after a France rugby match in Brive-la-Gaillarde, south-west France.
Organizers in Auckland had hoped for up to 10,000 participants but were still pleased the record had been reclaimed by New Zealand, where haka is considered a national treasure.
“We want to bring the mana (pride) of the chin back home,” Michael Mizrahi, director of the Auckland trial, told AFP. “It’s not just that we want to take it away from the French, it’s like a national treasure that someone has taken from us. It has a huge meaning for us as New Zealanders.”
He added: “Some things should be culturally sacred.”
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Previous attempts involving crowds of more than 5,000 on New Zealand soil failed because Guinness World Records officials did not ratify them, Mizrahi said.
This time a judge was flown to Auckland.
The Ka Mate hook was composed around 1820 by the war chief Te Rauparaha to commemorate his escape from a rival tribe’s pursuing war party.
Under New Zealand law, a Maori tribe, Ngati Toa, based in Porirua just outside Wellington – is recognized as the cultural guardian of Ka Mate-haka.