Te Reo
Tuia ki te rangi
Tuia ki te whenua
Tuia ki te moana
Tuia te here tangata
E rongo te pō, e rongo te ao
E whēkite ana, e whēkaro ana i ngā uhitai a Wainuiātea
Tupuna o ngā moana kiriwaiwai mō Papatūānuku
Ngaki tonu ana a Taitua rāua ko Taiaro
E haehae tonu ana i te uma o Nuku
Pipī tonu mai ana ngā wai o Roi i ngā kamo
Tangi ana mō Moana-tū-ki-te-repo
I kekeria kia rere tōna waiora
ki a Tangaroa-whakamau-tai
Ngaro atu, kāhore he hokinga mai
Kei hea rā he kāinga mō Matuku
He manu o te repo?
Ka ngaro i te aro tirohanga
Kua korokī ki ngā rākau teitei o te wao nui
Waiho ake a Poroka te tangi mokemoke
Ngaoki tonu mai ana te oati a Tangaroa ki a Tāne
Ngaki ana ki uta
Tāpohutu mai ana ngā uri a Tāne
Ki te whakatutuki i te oati i Te Paerangi
Waiho ake ngā uhitai hei roimata
Whakamākūkū i ngā pāpāringa
Kia tū kau ake ki te wharehukahuka a Tangaroa
Ki te patatai e tau ai, e tau ai, kua tau
English
Bind the tapestry of life which affirms humanity’s connection to the natural world.
To the celestial realm, to the earthly realm, to water – the sustenance for all life forms, and, to remember to keep everything in ‘balance’.
The mists of Wainuiātea, the mother of all oceans and waterways, rise like tears above the waterways that provide the fluid skin to clothe Papatūānuku.
The ancient waterways of Taitua and Taiaro forever eroding and tearing at the breast of Papatūānuku.
The tears (Roimata) continuously flow from the eyes.
Mourning the death of Moana-tū-ki-te-repo (swamplands, the youngest child of Wainuiātea).
Killed and drained of her life-giving purpose, to cleanse the waters of Tangaroa Whakamautai.
Lost forever and never to return
Where is home for Matuku now?
The bird of the marshlands and swamps?
He is no longer seen.
His spirit floating on the highest branches of Te Wao Nui a Tāne.
Leaving Poroka to his lonely cry.
The promise Tangaroa made to Tāne is yet to be satisfied.
He continuously digs and scrapes at the ramparts of the domain of Tāne. Fulfilling the promise to take the life of the children of Tāne.
The promise he made to Tāne at Te Paerangi.
May the seaspray be evidence of those tears
That continually moisten the cheeks of Papatūānuku.
They flow to the foamy domain of Tangaroa
Where in their own time they leave the turbulence of the oceans to come ashore to find peace and rest.
