ESPN on ABC’s college football broadcast focused in on Arizona’s Haka dance, which put the ritual on display for a much larger audience than a typical Arizona game.
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The All Blacks are the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team, the team that originally popularized the pregame haka.
Interestingly, despite outcry grabbing widespread attention only now, the Arizona Wildcats have been performing the haka for at least three years.
“So far the response has been mostly positive – people are thanking me for doing it. Reactions seem to be mixed as to whether people think they should be doing the Ka Mate at all, or whether they just need to learn to do it properly”. But if what the Wildcats are now performing is a “pathetic” faux haka rather than the real thing, perhaps it’s best to embrace it in a few other fashion.
A sight to see: The Arizona Wildcats perform a haka.
In a statement exclusively obtained by Te Kāea, Jeremy Sharpe, from Arizona Athletics confirmed today that the University of Arizona has made a decision to discontinue the activity.
But recently, a video of their version of the ancestral dance went viral in New Zealand and was slammed by many Kiwis as cultural appropriation. “Neither the University, athletics department, football program nor our student-athletes meant to disrespect or offend anyone and we apologize to anyone that was”.
Dr Campbell said their performance had been described by New Zealand students attending the university as a “circus”.
Arizona said it will seek alternative ways for Polynesian athletes to share their heritage.
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Reacting to the news tonight, Dr Campbell said she was happy that the university had responded to the concerns.
