According to Māori tradition, haka originates with the sun god Tama-nui-to-ra and his two wives, Hine-raumati and Hine-takurua, whose son Tāne-rore performed a quivering dance representing the shimmer of heat haze.
Long before contact with Europeans, haka is fully developed within iwi (tribal) life as a multifunctional practice: performed before battle to intimidate opponents, at peace ceremonies, funerals (tangihanga), and to welcome distinguished visitors.
European explorers, beginning with Abel Tasman in 1642 and later James Cook in 1769–1770, encounter Māori haka performances, often as displays of challenge upon the arrival of foreign ships.
During the New Zealand Wars (1845–1872), Māori iwi resisting colonial land confiscation and Crown forces perform haka on the battlefield, reasserting identity, courage, and defiance amid conflict and dispossession.
The rangatira (chief) Te Rauparaha of Ngāti Toa composes the haka 'Ka Mate' after narrowly escaping death by hiding from pursuing enemies, later to become the most internationally recognized haka in the world.
Following the Treaty of Waitangi (1840) and subsequent colonization, Crown policies increasingly suppress Māori language and cultural practices, including haka, through legislation, missionary influence, and assimilationist schooling.
A largely Māori rugby team touring Britain, Australia, and New Zealand performs haka before matches, marking one of the earliest documented instances of haka entering international sporting contexts.
New Zealand's national rugby team, the All Blacks, begins regularly performing Te Rauparaha's 'Ka Mate' haka before international matches, propelling it to global recognition throughout the twentieth century.
Amid a broader movement to revitalize te reo Māori and cultural practices, kohanga reo (language nests), kura kaupapa Māori (Māori-medium schools), and cultural festivals like Te Matatini haka competitions strengthen haka's role in contemporary Māori identity.
Haka gains unprecedented global visibility through media, sport, and viral online videos—performed at weddings, funerals, graduations, and protests—while Māori communities work to ensure its performance retains cultural integrity and proper context.
Native schools discouraged the use of te reo Māori and traditional practices in favor of European customs, and haka was at times dismissed by colonial authorities as primitive or dangerous. Despite this pressure, many Māori communities maintained haka within marae (communal meeting spaces) and iwi gatherings, preserving it as a vital act of cultural survival and resistance to erasure.