School Performs Emotional Haka at Teacher’s Funeral

Students and teachers of Palmerston North Boys’ High School have paid tribute to their beloved and long-serving teacher Dawson Tamatea at his funeral.

The entire school performed a traditional Haka as the hearse carrying Mr Tamatea arrived at the school hall where hundreds of mourners farewelled the popular teacher.

“This was a very emotional and powerful performance””, wrote the school on its Facebook page.

“We are extremely proud of our boys’ performance and we know that Mr Tamatea would be too.”

Tamatea was a teacher at Palmerston North Boys’ High School for about 30 years and taught physical education and maths. He also was a popular head of Te Reo Maori and Dean of Student Achievement.

The funeral was also streamed online and a video of the haka posted online has had more than 70000 views.

“It was absolutely spine-tingling”, said David Bovey, the High School’s rector.

Article Source: The Telegraph, Olivia Rudgard, 27 July, 2015.

Image Source: Youtube