Whakarongo ki te Au
Our truth is this:
We come from the sea
this is where our bones lie
not on the summits of
mountains
Hawaiki nui Hawaiki roa
Is our ancestral Pacific land
and its location in history
can only be found in legend
yielding only to the sea’s
timelessness
He Kuaka Mārangaranga
Kotahi manu rere atu, rere atu
be not afraid to strike out alone
be like the godwit, which takes its wing
for the horizon, others will soon
circle and soar and then
follow
Fish beyond your reach
like Māui who soothed the sea, sun
and air without metapoetic karakia
and for his adventurousness
was rewarded when the fishing line
smoked in his hands as
he hooked up Aotearoa
Nurture your voyaging spirit
do not become like the karoro
the black-backed seagull which
feeds only on the coastline
of insubstantial flotsam
fringing the sea’s lure
From Words of a Kaumātua by Haare Williams, edited by Witi Ihimaera
Dr Haare Williams MNZM has been Dean of Māori Education and Māori Advisor to the Chief Executive at Unitec. He was General Manager of Aotearoa Radio. He set up a joint venture with the South Seas Film and Television School to train Te Reo speakers as producers and operators in film and television. He has worked closely with iwi claimant communities and was responsible for waka construction and assembly at Waitangi for the 1990 commemorations. He has published poetry, exhibited painting and written for film and television. He was a cultural advisor for the Mayor of Auckland and is Amorangi at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
Content Catnip 