Rolling our eyes towards god: an intervention arising from mormon missionary YouTube activity and the cultural (mis)appropriation of haka

ABSTRACT

This Kaupapa Māori Research writing inquiry explores the (mis)appropriation of haka and the social media video-sharing platform YouTube in that (mis)appropriation. The article examines the specific case of a group of Latter-day Saint missionaries in Wangarratta, Australia, who wrote and performed an English-language haka that the author finds violent and offensive. The article outlines Aileen Moreton-Robertson’s White Possessive doctrine in relation to the Church and white patriarchal salvation. Haka’s cultural background and appropriation are explained. Theoretical explanations of collective and cultural memory and YouTube as a social media platform and cultural archive follow. The author highlights YouTube grey literature sources on haka cultural (mis)appropriation. The 2006 case study “missionary haka” video is critiqued and analysed. Case study issues are discussed. The Church’s history of racial discrimination and violence and its religious aetiology of skin colour make this video ”misappropriated,” according to research. This performance uses haka to promote white and religious supremacy and the idea that you must be white and/or religious to be fully human. This message helps the LDS Church mission of possessing Indigenous souls and remaining the “true religion”.

KEYWORDS:

• Haka
• cultural (mis)appropriation
• cultural memory
• mormonism
• YouTube
• missionary culture

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Dedication

This paper is written in memory of Te Reo Whakakōtahi Chulla Wall.

Notes

1. Snoops999 (2006). ‘missionary haka.’ 22 July 2006, YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k71eSLJAXRA; For the purposes of this research Mormon Studies is taken to mean, ‘[the] study of the churches, peoples, theologies, and other phenomena that trace their roots to the religious movement of Joseph Smith, Jr. When it interacts with exclusively Mormon epistemologies, Mormon Studies analyzes them per se and uses them to delineate the scope of studies, but does so in the context of and interacting with non-Mormon academic epistemologies. Through the Mormon Studies discipline Mormons, Mormonism, and the Mormon experience can motivate adaptation and nuance in the non-Mormon methodologies and theories deployed’ (Griffin and Haycock 2015)

2. See Snoops999. (2006). “missionary haka.” July 22, 2006, YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k71eSLJAXRA.

3. For information on the history of the Mormon missionary name tag and photo example, see Ann Laemmlen Lewis https://yakimamission.wordpress.com/2017/08/07/the-history-of-lds-missionary-name-tags/

4. Te Matatini is a bi-annual festival event for kapa haka (Māori performing arts). The event is a competition where roopu (haka teams) compete for awards and overall champions. Teams are chosen through regional competitions held in the off-year. All teams competing represent their particular region. The event is also known as the Olympics of Te Ao Māori. For more information see Royal-Taeao K (2020). Te Matatini. The Choral Journal 60(8), 47–50.

5. See Solesbee, C. ‘LDS Missionary Book of Mormon Haka,’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DON642wFvyw

6. Ngā mahi a Rehia refers to leisure pursuits. Akey part of this are the traditional performing arts like haka. For a general explanation see Calman (2013). For a more comprehensive understanding of this tearm in relation to haka see Papesch (2015).

7. For more information on Kaupapa Māori Research and its approaches refer to Henry and Pene (2001); Pihama (2010); Simon (2022a); and L. Smith (2015). For more on its application to Mormon and Lamanite Studies see Simon (2022a).

8. (Post)qualitative inquiry is methodological (but without methods, as a critique of pre-described qualitative methods is at the core in post-qualitative inquiry). For an understanding of the author’s use of ‘(post)qualitative,’ it is highly recommended that that the reader see Le Grange (2018), Østern et al. (2023), and Ulmer (2017).

9. For more information on gospel culture see Colvin (2017).

10. Elise Boxer offers in line with this the argument that Indigenous sovereignty in the Book of Mormon is contingent upon a Christian conversion. See Boxer (2019). Additionally, Thomas T. Murphy (2003) notes that Lamanites become ‘white’ and are often intergrated in Nephite communities upon conversion to Christ as described in the Book of Mormon.

11. The author notes that Lamanites become ‘white’ and are ofter integrated into Nephite communities upon conversion ‘to Christ’ in the BOM. See T. Murphy (2003).

12. In recent years there has been growing efforts to explore the place and identities of indigeneity within Mormon Studies this has been primarily done by the publication of two significant volumes being ‘Decolonizing Methodologies’ and “Essays on American Indian and Mormon History. In addition to this I have noted in previous research that ‘the title of this publication [Decolonizing Mormonism] is technically incorrect and may be considered misleading by some. It would have been far more appropriate, but more complicated, to call the commentary something like Postcolonial Mormonism, for the notion of achieving a decolonised religious institution seems antithetical to the concept of decolonisation’ (Simon 2022a, 1). Thus most discussions around decolonisation and Mormonism within the literature prior to 2022 focuses moreso on describing post-colonialism not decolonisation.

13. For context on racism and the LDS Church associated with this pharse see Mueller (2017), Colvin and Brooks (2018), Simon (2022b).

14. For examples of the ways haka is being abused by the National Ruby team The All Blacks (and its major sponsors), particularly through advertising, refer to Hokowhitu, ‘Haka: Colonised Pysicality’. Hokowhitu (2014) comments that ‘[t]he taking over of the All Blacks’ primary sponsorship by the global sports clothing company Adidas signified a mass wave of marketing based on selling the exoticism of ‘traditional’ Māori masculine culture. At the time, the marketing campaign led to questions by Māori regarding intellectual property rights and the misappropriation and commodification of Indigenous culture’ (274).

15. Hōri is an ethnic slur used against people of Māori descent. The term comes from a Māori-language approximation of the English name George, which was very popular during the early years of European colonisation of New Zealand. By means of synecdoche, the term came to be ascribed firstly to any unknown male Māori and then as a negative epithet to all male Māori (see Hōri (slur) 2023). Additionally, in modern usage it is also utilised to mean an unkept and/or uncivilised Māori. For more information and history on the topic see Lingustic and Second Language Teaching, 2008, https://linguisticsmassey.wordpress.com/2009/06/05/dropping-the-h-bomb/; Coombes (2016). Indigenism, Public Intellectuals, and the Forever Opposed – Or, the Makings of a ‘Hori Academic’. In D. Mertens, F. Cram, & B. Chilisa (Eds.), Indigenous Pathways into Social Research (pp. 71–88). Routledge.

16. See ‘haka all blacks 1973,’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htCTWZqCMhQ

17. See One News (2019). ‘Watch: All Blacks perform haka in 1973 – it’s not great,’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY2hlcl7D3Q.

18. See Bakery Industry Association of New Zealand (2007). ‘The Gingerbread Men Haka.’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urA9m7N_liY

19. See ‘Best of the Worst Haka Commercials – Italian Fiat,’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RK5qfIePGM

20. For an example of haka wāhine see ‘Black Ferns (Aotearoa New Zealand Women’s Rugby Team) Women’s Rugby World Haka’, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzg4rJJNX30.

21. See ‘William Lawson’s Haka,’ https://youtu.be/lHbEjMJ80yo

22. See ‘The Chuka (The Aussie Haka),’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPgntI-vrDc

23. See ‘Coca Cola Haka Namie Amuro Commercial,’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOJJOW7eokU

24. See ‘Arizona Football: How to Haka,’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_rMNPF63Jc&t=249s

25. I disagrees with Taiuru’s assertion. The NHS haka is blatantly racist as underpinning it is notions of haka being a ‘war dance,’ ideas of savagery and the enactment of the martial race theory. For more on the martial race theory see (Simon 2015).

26. In the post peer-review phase of this journal article I came across another Mormon haka-based video called, “LDS Haka” uploaded by AMBITIONtube on April 29, 2016. The same analysis provided in this article can be applied to this particular video also. The video would appear to be performed in a Mormon chapel cultural hall in the Halifax Ward in Nova Soctia, Canada. To some degree the newer video is more problematic than the Wangaratta event as hightlighted by the description which states, “The wicked Lamanites perform the Haka to scare away the righteous Nephites. The Nephites return the Haka in an attempt to win over the hearts and minds of the Lamanites. The Lamanites hearts are softened and join the Nephite army.” (AMBITIONtube 2016). To view this video see: AMBITIONtube. 2016. “LDS Haka.” 29 April, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDcvjhmeBWI&t=2s.

27. See, ‘Church unleashes new haka,’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLRz_hN_l_4; Also see the last section of this video ‘New Zealand Hamilton Mission Haka,’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxEjw2iCzeU

Additional information

Funding

This research was completed as part of Working to End Racial Oppression (WERO) which is funded by a Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment Endeavour Fund Grant 2020 [UOWX2002]..