Old AND New - Modern Wedding with Māori Haka Goes Global

Aaliyah and Ben Armstrong. Image credit: Stacey Leah Photography

It's the wedding ceremony that's gone global and its everything Future-ish is all about.

New Zealand's Aaliyah and Ben Armstrong both share Māori ancestry so Ben's best man decided to incorporate a haka into their wedding ceremony. Friends filmed it, Westone Productions edited it, Ben posted it on his Facebook page on January 20th, 2016, and then the Facebook Page "I'm proud to be Tongan" shared it. Within a few days, the video had been viewed over 30 millions times.

Haka is a traditional Maori posture dance. Often used in war or other challenge situations, it also makes appearances in important community or life events, such as weddings, to honor those involved.

Incorporating a haka into a thoroughly modern wedding ceremony is exactly the sort of thing we want to highlight here at Future-ish. There is certainly the aspect of walking in two worlds that is often mentioned in such situations...which in itself has many layers of inspiration. But for us, it also points out the need to bring culture back into conversations of shaping the future and creating an inclusive future.

For us, it's clear that haka at weddings will continue to be practiced throughout this century and for centuries to come. It will be incorporated into more Māori weddings held in Aotearoa (the accepted Māori name for New Zealand), in other parts of the world, and yes, perhaps someday on one of Saturn's moons.

>> View the original video here

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