The Haka Performers who welcomed to the Hui The Hon. J. R. Hanan Minister of Maori Affairs Then it is there still strong flowing. The blood of my forefathers Lifting and carrying me back to the shores of Hawaiki. To the great migration, to the battle with the seas, to a Stone Age culture, to principles strong and rigid That demanded an eye for an eye, a limb for a limb. Whenever I hear the blood-pulsing beat of the Haka. The drumming of feet upon hardened earth, The intermittent and timely slap, slap of the open hand On the taut naked flesh, the chanting rhythmic and significant, Oh I feel the pull then and my pulses soar And the blood of my forefathers rushes to my head And waves of excitement break over me. rowley habib