Waka Waka: The Origins

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When I first heard the term waka a few years back in my college days, I naturally immediately thought of the World Adult Kickball Association (WAKA). In fact, I was mistaken.

The evolution of the term, as best I can research it, is as follows:

Around the turn of the century --this century-- the fine young men and women of Dartmouth College began to use the term self call. This phrase was shouted out in response to another's self-aggrandizing statement. Back then such a comment may have been: So, ahh, then we golden shrubbed the other guys, and I hooked up with her later.
These days a self call sounds more like: My portfolio is still strong to quite strong.
Either way, you get the point. What's interesting, fascinating in fact, is that somewhere between then and now there was a radical change in our common parlance. After AMDAL's very own The BMar beat "self call" into the ground, he single-handedly delivered the term "waka" to the lexicon. Whether it was an alcohol induced moment of genius or an incomprehensible dyspraxic utteration, we may well never know. The parties present at the time --Spring Break on South Padre Island-- are either currently incarcerated or have since gone missing.
What we do know is that things haven't been the same since. Waka is no longer just a genre of Japanese poetry; it's a Dartmouth language phenomenon that has spread to the very internets you're currently reading.

But alas, there are always two sides to every coin, and sometimes even the victor's don't write history.
On my archeologically-focused summer abroad in Peru, I discovered the following ancient Incan scripture (self call! waka waka!):

And so it is that waka is neither a new phrase nor a particularly appropriate one in the context in which we've grown accustomed to using it.

Five hundred years ago, as the Spanish conquistadores ruthlessly invaded Peru for it's yellow gold (not Inca Kola. That was to come in 1910), the Incan Empire began its precipitous fall. It receded from its peripheral territories across the Andes, gathering last at its most sacred spot, its most important waka, Machu Picchu.
It wasn't until 1911 when Yale archeologist and US Senator Hiram Bingham rediscovered Machu Picchu (was he looking for Peru's other --and just released-- gold?!), that the true secret of the waka was ultimately revealed.

**Apologies, this photo is completely unrelated to the content here presented, but was the first hit on a Google Image Search of the term "waka."