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Contrary to popular belief, the Tall Blacks haka is not a war dance. Former Tall Black, Paora Winitana, says there are many reasons why New Zealanders haka 鈥� to celebrate, to acknowledge, to give thanks, at tangi (funerals). So what is the Tall Blacks haka saying exactly? Paora Winitana explains鈥�

鈥淲hen you see the haka for the first time you might think 鈥榳ow, these guys are coming to kill us, to take over鈥�, and there are many haka in New Zealand that are purely focused on that kind of message, but not T奴 Kaha.

鈥淭he objective of the Tall Blacks鈥� haka T奴 Kaha is purely to help us all stand strong, not only as Tall Blacks or as basketball players, but as a people, as New Zealanders. One of the lines is 鈥楾uturu whakamaua kia tina,鈥� which means 鈥榳e honour the past, the present, the future鈥�. This is us acknowledging everybody who has gone before us, those who will surely follow after and the acceptance of the responsibility we have now to prepare the way forward. We are not standing strong because it鈥檚 the 12 guys you see standing against you, we are standing strong because it鈥檚 you against every Tall Black and all New Zealanders.

鈥淭奴 Kaha also tells the Tall Blacks鈥� secret to success through the story of Tane and his sacred journey to the highest Heaven in search for the 鈥榯hree baskets of knowledge鈥�. We talk about the winds of T膩whirim膩te. In our culture he鈥檚 the guardian of the winds, and he bring Hurunuku and hururangi 鈥� his two strongest forces, to try and stop Tane from being successful. T奴 Kaha teaches us that Tane used the strongest forces to overcome the strongest adversity to be victorious.

鈥淲e know that New Zealand basketball is not considered a powerhouse on the world stage like the Americans, or the Spaniards, Argentinians, the Australians or European nations, but we are New Zealand, and like the Kahikatea tree, we don鈥檛 have the individual superstars that you see in the NBA 鈥� that鈥檚 not our style. The Tall Blacks way is 鈥榢otahitanga鈥� working as one 鈥� our true Mana (strength/authority) is relying not so much on our physical strength, but more so our mental toughness, our fortitude and resilience, our ruthlessness and relentlessness as the people of New Zealand to never fear, but fight to the end.

鈥淚n T奴 Kaha the question is asked 鈥楬e aha tatau e tu tonu ai?鈥� which translates to 鈥榟ow is it that we can stand against you, our opponent, the strongest storm鈥�. Then we give the reply, 鈥楬e pakiaka, toi Ariki, toi Uru tapu,鈥� which means our strength is in our roots, this is the vine that we hold fast to that connects us to a higher power, our uniqueness as a culture 鈥� this separates us from any other country.

鈥淔or us the message of T奴 Kaha, to stand strong together, makes up who we are as New Zealanders. So when we send out T奴 Kaha at the start of each battle, we want all Kiwis to stand with us, because it is the people who have gone before us, who are with us now, and those who will come when we have left 鈥� that gives us our true mana and strength. So that鈥檚 what we mean we say the Tall Blacks stand for all New Zealanders through the message of T奴 Kaha, and we hope that New Zealanders will stand with us too.

鈥淭ogether we are strong, together we can overcome all challenges.鈥�

• Read about more T奴 Kaha and the Tall Blacks culture