Fan cams of kapa haka performers, Wendy William edits and iwi anthems. What else could you want? The instagram page Kapa_haka_Memes is a one stop shop for the modern Māori memelord.
Hilariously Māori the memes crack a smile from all generations with nan’s and koro’s alike chuckling to a bit of Ngāpuhi slander. Memes shitting on the tutor and videos of women ‘fighting’ for the front row middle position, it’s everything a ‘haka freak’ could ever want. A page for the haka fanatic, watcher and weekend supporter Kapa_haka_Memes presents marae banter in a digestible way. You don’t have to be a pā kid to get the humor. Choosing to put a Māori twist on the latest Tik Tok trends is refreshingly different while also being knowingly familiar to the modern Māori.
Speaking of Tik Tok, the page presence resembles that of a stan account. Choosing to use K-pop idols’ images and editing thirst videos of younger kaihaka (no complaints here) the page looks like that of a fangirls account.
Kapa_haka_Memes is a Māori youth response to culture, social media and the changing landscapes of tikanga. Acting as a place to wānanga the page holds frequent Q&A in an attempt to bring forward issues currently being debated in te ao Māori. No topic is off limits; the use of kirituhi on non-Māori, upcoming haka leaders and what the future of te ao maori could look like are discussed at length. The responses are often fresh and differ from the opinion of older leaders. And unlike at the hui table youth voices and opinions are appreciated.
This page is fresh, niche and all encompassing. It’s managed to bring not only me closer to my cousins but to my culture also. It gives me hope that as the times progress so do we te ao Māori.
Culturally centered, youth focussed and crack up.
