Waiata
Three waiata have been specifically composed for Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa.
Te Harakeke
Lyrics and melody by Hine and Tepene Mamaku
This waiata was composed by Tepene and Hine Mamaku for the Weavers’ exhibition at Te Papa Tongarewa as part of the 2000 New Zealand Festival of the Arts. This waiata was later performed at the 2004 Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa whakatau to Hongoeka marae and supported the opening of the Māori weaving exhibition, The Eternal Thread exhibition at Pataka Museum and Art Gallery in Porirua.
He taonga mai i a Tāne
He rau nō te Waonui
He pakiaka, ka toro
Ki te ū o Papatuānuku
Ka whanau mai te rito
Ka hua, ka puāwai
Momotutia, ka haehae,
He rongoā, he kākāhu.
He ngira, he miro, hei tuitui
He muka here tangata
He rau ‘hokia te Waonui’,
Te Wao a Tāne Mahuta.
Kaua e hutia te rito,
Kei mate te Korimako ee i.
A treasure from Tāne
A leaf from his great domain
The roots formed reaching down
To the nourishing breasts of Papatuānuku
From the birth of the shoot
The growth, the maturity
The plucking, the stripping
To medicine, to clothing
Like the thread of the needle
The plaiting muka binding people together
A leaf returned to the great domain
The domain of Tāne Mahuta.
Please don’t destroy the little shoot
Lest the Bellbird suffer.
Te Moana Whiritoi
Lyrics by Derek Lardelli, melody by Marata Macgregor
Te Moana Whiri Toi was written by Derek Lardelli in response to the Te Roopu Raranga Whatu National Weavers Hui at Awhitu marae, Palmerston North. Delivered in the form of a letter to the then Chair, Rānui Ngarimu, his words expressed his emotion on viewing the sea of weavers working together. Marata Macgregor put the rangi (melody) to these words and taught Te Kōkiri weavers based in Levin to sing the waiata and this was first performed to Derek Lardelli at an event at Te Papa Tongarewa that same year and at many events since.
Tēnei koa
Te moana whiritoi
E raranga nei
Whatu wairua, whatu mauriora
Ki te ao marama
Ngā toi matua
O te kohanga a hurumanu
Ngā korimako, ngā korimako
O te pā harakeke
Te Aho Mutunga Kore
Lyrics by Derek Lardelli
Te Aho Mutunga Kore was written by Derek Lardelli for The Eternal Thread exhibition of Māori weaving, which toured New Zealand and North American venues from 2004-2007. Rim D. Paul composed a choral arrangement, which was taught to the Williamette University Choir who performed the waiata when The Eternal Thread opened at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University, Salem, Oregon, on 23 September 2005.
In 2006 Joe Harawira made another arrangement, which was taught to, and performed by the contingent of Māori weavers who travelled to the Museum at Warm Springs Reservation, Oregon (4 June – 5 September 2006)—the final staging of the four venue tour in North America.
[Whiti tuatahi]
Te Aho Mutunga Kore
He taura here tangata
He muka i takea mai nei i Hawaiki nui
I Hawaiki roa i Hawaiki pāmamao
[Whiti tuarua]
Te Aho Mutunga Kore
He aho tapu, i mātua
Whiritia mei mai i te
Ahurewa i Rangiātea
[Huihuinga reo]
Te Ahonui, Te Ahoroa,
Te Ahorangi
Aho Matua, Aho Tikitiki-o-Ranga
Aho Mutunga Kore
[Whiti tuatoru]
Te Aho Mutunga Kore
Te takapau wharanui e hora nei
Hei kaitaka, he whakapaepae
Iringa kōrero ki te ao whānui
[Huihuinga reo]
Te Ahonui, Te Ahoroa, Te Ahorangi
Aho Matua, Aho Tikitiki-o-Ranga
Aho Mutunga Kore
[Whiti tuatoru]
Te Aho Mutunga Kore
Te takapau wharanui e hora nei
Hei kaitaka, he whakapaepae
Iringa kōrero ki te ao whānui
Iringa kōrero ki te ao whānui
The Eternal Thread
Linking mankind
The fibre that derives from the Great
Hawaiki, the Long Hawaiki, the Distant Hawaiki
The Eternal Thread
The sacred thread chosen
for its quality
from the shrine of Rangiātea
The large thread, the long thread
The heavenly thread
Fatherly thread, the thread of Tikitiki-o-Ranga
The Eternal Thread
………………
The Eternal Thread
bonding us together
giving us a place, a voice,
and a belonging in our world
The large thread, the long thread
The heavenly thread
Fatherly thread, the thread of Tikitiki-o-Ranga
The Eternal Thread
The Eternal Thread
bonding us together,
giving us a place, a voice,
and a belonging in our world
and a belonging in our world
