1. Kurawaka

Mai i te rangi ki te whenua, Ngā Ia we are ancient, travelled the Te Ara Āniwaniwa. We have gazed at the sunrise from the beautiful towering heights of Te Kunenga Wao Roa. We are both singers of the spider and of the springs. Te Tuākana, Mū Tangata ~ The Insect People. Te Iriui o Ngā pūoro me pūorū, children of Hine Raukarekare, the sound gardeners of Ngā Māra o Rongo Marae Roa.

Mai i te timatanga o te ao ~ From the beginning of the world

2. Ngā Maire Roa ~ The long songs

As the Waitahā Waka Te Urutiwai above follows the black tides towards their destination, far below in deep watery realms of Tangaroa Matua, Ngā Tohorā are gathering Ngutu Kura, Parāoa, Kewa, Paikea, Upokohue … from every whale iwi from far and wide. For our tuākana their wānanga begins when their Matua Rehua Nui Ahau completes a cycle in the heavens.

Ki te rangi me te moana
To the heavens and the ocean

3. Whakatere Ngā Waka ~ Set sail the waka

We are Waitahā the keepers of peace of the Te Korowai o Rongo Marae Roa ~ Grandmother Peace Keeper of the multiverse. Many of our Waitahā waka sought peace in these lands, a refuge from planetary changes, ravishes of war and famine. From the four directions we travelled to this whenua, back and forth our waka delivered our people to this safe haven. We have held steadfast to our ancient covenant of peace with our creator despite the ever reaching tides of war.

No ngā whetū tātou - We are from the stars.

4. Hinerau Wharariki

Hinerau Wharariki, Hine Raumahora and Haurongo, three great Waitahā Amokura ~ Wisdom Keepers have arrived at Ohau Matua from Wharekaurinui ~ The land of the great Turtle. Their karakia vibrate deep within the land awakening a new dream into being. Hinerau Wharariki is instructed to build a Whare Wānanga called Nukunuku in the valley of the teachers Ohau Matua, below the ancient mountain which will bear her name in time, so her teachings will continue to inspire in the future.

Ko Wharariki tōku maunga ~ Wharariki is the sacred mountain

5. Paparoa

Beside Te Awa Punakaiki, Te Waitahā Te Pae Ārahi o Tangaroa Paparoa and Ngā kaihoe from Te Waka Tirea begin to play their pūoro to Ngā manu o Rehua, kihikihi wawā reverberating amongst te uru rātā. It is the height of summer Te Maruaroa o te Raumati the whenua is shimmering with the seen and unseen.

He maha ngā taonga i roto i te ātea - There are many treasures in the universe

6. Huāki

From an ancient listening wānanga cave Te Amomoana Huāki hears the ancient bat winged fly emerge from beneath the ground in the south island high country, warm fishing tides moved closer towards the land in spring. It is a sign to open the deep sea fishing grounds off places such as Punakaiki. Huāki established methods of fishing & preserving the children of Tangaroa. Her Waitahā wisdom of the ways of Tangaroa became the foundation throughout the land.

Whakarongo i te ngā kōhimuhimu – Listen to the whispers.

7. Peketua Moemoeā ~ Frog dreaming

Peketua sings to Te Maunga for rain, and then the green rainbow appears. Ranginui begins to weep for Papatūānuku. Peketua sings with more gusto as concentric circles appear in the waters around them, renewal revitalized Te ihorangi me Te ua.

Ngā Wai tērā e ngā roimata whakatere aroha o Ranginui Matua mō tona tahu. The waters those are the tears of continuous love of Ranginui Matua for his beloved


8. Te Taura Moemoeā ~ The Dreamline

The dream line must remain taut and flowing in a forever circle from whale teacher to dolphin student. Papatūānuku me Tuputupu Whenua instil the first teachings to ngā tauira mokopuna guided by the Elder Teachers.

Āe e moko, ko tātou ēnā. E kore tātou e mate, ka ū tonu ai tātou ki a tātou āke puna, ki a tātou āke moko, mate noa tātou
We are from the beginning of time, from the creation of the moko, from the creation of the puna, yes we are those. We will not perish, we will forever hold onto our puna and our moko, until we in our own time fade away.

9. Whiti Mai Te Rā

Te Rā rises majestically across Moana Taniwha Kura reflecting upon Matawai Tawhiti. Towards Te Arakura a Tāne is the direction Mohua and the golden crew voyage do venture, gliding above the waves. Ko ahau te wairua whiti hanahana o Te Rā ~ I am the sun's glorious shining spirit.

Piki mai rā, Te Rā! ~ Arise, the Sun!
Kake mai rā, Te Rā! ~ Climb up the Sun!
Haere mai rā, Te Tupuna! ~ Welcome the Ancestor!

10. Te Kōpō

Ngā Tipua the great creator beings who sculpt the great works of creation within Te Ao Pōuri me Te Ao Mārama ~ The multiverse of darkness and multiverse of light for the Ngā Atua. Te Kōpō one of these Te Kāhui Tipua, moving molding, forming, healing the body of Papatūānuku since the beginning. Honoured in stone at Te Pito o Te Henua, the stone man, architect, earth healer….

Mēnā ka hīkoi koe me Waitahā ka haere tahi tonu ahau
If you walk with Waitahā I will always walk with you

11. Wharekaurinui ~ The land of the Great Turtle

Last night the shortest night, as we of Ngāti Kura wove our healing sounds together, great teaching eagle was above us in the night sky as viewed through our circular open roof. Time for the sacred learning to begin the remembering, like our elder sunflower we are guided to the life giving light of Te Rānui. The warmth of the messages for we are blessed. The symbols of light awaken us to our inner song that will take us to the lands where Te Rā sunbeams first kiss.

Kanakana mai, whakaakohia mai au I tōku Ao
Light up and instruct me in my world.

12 .Te Kōhatu ō Ngā Atua ~ The stone of the Elemental Caretakers

Ngāhue Tē Amotoka of the Tē Tu Takapō people searched the outer and inner seas for the land of which held Tē Kohatu ō Ngā Atua, pounamu. After much searching he and his prodigy Poutini in Te Waka Māmari at last found it resided at Te Waka o Te Atua ~ South Island New Zealand. For only the waka of the Atua could contain pounamu, the stone used as its tao waka ~ ballast. Many great waka were carved from the pounamu Ngāhue discovered on this voyage.

Ahakoa he iti he pounamu
Often the most humble is the most precious, the most treasured.

13. Amū o Toko Rangi

Moving through the dark tunnels the initiates are chanting in unison. They arrive at the shoreline where waka ferry them to the great island within the sacred lake. Upon landing on the island they ascend the stone stairs of the great stepped temple Rangiātea. At the great platform two massive blue stone pillars tower upwards to the starry skies, it is here between heaven and earth their seals are opened to Te Mātāpuna

Haere mai Ngā Toki - Let the Servants & Healers come forward

14. Te Ana o Te Hakuwai ~ The Cave of the Sea Eagle

Deep within a sacred cavern the crew of a waka that is about to voyage to another land, carrying a precious cargo that will help sustain living there. They commune with their taonga pūoro to their Ngā Atua, Tipua, Taniwha, Kaitiaki and Tūpuna for their journey ahead to be blessed. They will be following the ancient oceans trails opened by the old sea hawk Kiwa Matua, many turns ago of Te Tipua comet Tāhana Rerenga o Io.

Pupuhi e ngā hau o Tāwhirimātea – Blown by the winds of Tāwhirimātea.

15. Te Hā o Te Kahikatea ~ The heart breath of the Kahikatea

Rākau Kahikatea E tuakana we sing to you, we play to you sound upon sound. As the manu do at both dawn dusk for growth, for shelter, for sustenance and for your long lived wisdom Pūrākau. Then in this morning light we listen in silence for your reply in the pūwawau o te manga.

Tēnei te whakarongo e, ki te wairua o Papatūānuku
It is in this listening to the spirit of Papatūānuku

16. Hine Te Whei Uru

Within in a rock shelter in western mountains the sounds of pūoro merge with the rain drops outside. The Waitahā Amokura wisdom keeper Hine Te Whei Uru has made land fall in Waitangi ki Raro. She has voyaged far, aboard the waka Nukutere Mai Tawhiti, the waka of Enlightened Teachers. Hine Te Whei Uru teachings will become part of the foundation of wānanga in these lands.

Te tapu o i te kei a koe
The sacredness of the world is in you


Waitaha Tono Rangimārie

The second album release from the Waikirikiri Kōpuni Taonga Pūoro collective Kiki Pounamu, takes us on ancient journey from the starry korowai of Ranginui Matua, across the wide waters Tangaroa Matua and Hine Moana, on the trails of the land Ngā moko o te whenua o Papatūānuku and on an inner flight to the worlds of the spirit Te Tai Ātea o Rehua. This unfolding cloak of Rongo Marae Roa reveals some of the pathways and stories of the Waitahā people of Ngāti Kurawaka on this album, Ngā Amokura such a Hinerau Wharariki, Huāki, Paparoa, Hine Whei Te Uru are honoured here.
Mai i te rangi ki te whenua, Ngā Ia we are ancient, travelled the Te Ara Āniwaniwa. We have gazed at the sunrise from the beautiful towering heights of Te Kunenga Wao Roa. We are both singers of the spider and of the springs. Te Tuākana, Mū Tangāta ~ The Insect People. Te Iriui o Ngā Pūoro me Pūorū, children of Hine Raukarekare, the sound gardeners of Ngā Māra o Rongo Marae Roa.

Mai i te timatanga o te ao ~ From the beginning of the world