Te Au o te Moana
Our nation was born
in the bosom of the ocean
where the sea leans
on the land
Our stories are intimately written
in the narratives of ocean canoes
sailings driftings taniwha
whirlpools discoveries
making our world
wider
The salt in our veins
brought us together
to find each other
The unrelenting pull of the sea
tugs in the blood of our ancestors
Ra’iatea
The song of Tangaroa is
in every wave foam and sea spray
scattering the seed born of Rangiātea
across the ocean straddled by Kupe
’E kore koe e ngaro he kākano
I ruiruia mai i Ra’iātea’
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.
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Beautiful.
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Thank you 🤗😽
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