Aue te aroha i ahau, aue Aue e te iwi e. E te iwi Māori1 puritia kia mau, Utaina ki runga i te waka o te ora2 Ka hoe ai ki te tauranga3. Oh the love I have For you my people Hold fast to your beliefs And bring them forward into a new life So that we can seek all that is bountiful. Ko te kupu a te Kaiwhakaora, A Hehu tino aroha Wetewetekia atu ngā uru-rua4 E te hunga e mamae ana Ka aru mai ai i ahau. This is the word of the Creator, The loving Jesus: “Cast away all that is bad So that those once deprived Can now follow me.” E te iwi whakarongo ake ra, Ki te reo e karanga mai nei Whaia kia mau te kotahitanga5 He mea paihere na te rangimarie6 Kia mau ai te Rongopai. Listen you my people To the voice calling: “Pursue the unity of the spirit And combine it with peace So that the Good News reigns.” We thank Matua Che Wilson for this translation, which gives the spiritual meaning of the fishing-trip analogy. For those using these pages to increase their Maori vocabulary, here is a more literal translation of the first verse. Aue te aroha i ahau, Aue e te iwi e E te iwi Māori puritia, kia mau, Utaina ki runga i te waka o te ora Ka hoe ai ki te tauranga. Oh the love I have For you people. Hold fast to your Maori customs Load them onto the canoe of life and paddle towards the fishing ground. C Aue te aroha i a-C7-hau, aue F Aue e te iwi C e. F E te iwi Māori puritia kia mau, C Utaina ki runga i te waka o te ora G7 Ka hoe ai ki te taura-C-nga Moe Ruka Aue Te Aroha was composed by Moe Ruka in the early 1940s. Moe is of Ngāti Rangi and Whanganui descent with other affiliations to Tūwharetoa, Ngā Rauru and Ngāti Apa.  She is the eldest child of Te Māreikura Hori Enoka and Hinewaipare Te Huinga Marino.  She was married to Pepene Ruka of Ngāti Rangi.  Moe and her family lived at Kuratahi near Taihape, Raketapauma marae near Waiōuru, and at Maungārongo7 marae at Ohakune. Moe Ruka is also the composer of two other well-known waiata sung by Whanganui and other tribes and groups, they are: Ko te rite i ahau (waiata-ā-ringa) and Whakapukepuke (waiata aroha). CW Origins Aue Te Aroha is based on the teachings of the Māramatanga, a Māori prophetic movement founded by Moe's father, Te Mareikura. In the 1930s he led the Māramatanga faith at Ōhakune and Levin. The faith had been partially inspired by the prophet Mere Rikiriki. After Te Mareikura's death in 1946 his brothers, and others, took up the role. Māramatanga recognises all the earlier, major prophets; its leaders undertake missions or pilgrimages associated with the Roman Catholic faith, but at times also perform independent activities. Its first public performance of Aue Te Aroha was in 1948 at the Hui Aranga held in Ohākune, and was the winning action song for the Maungārongo Catholic Club.  It is now sung around the world. Pauro Māreikura, Moe's younger brother, and Emily Tākuira, her cousin, taught the waiata to many people around the country and people have often thought that one of them was the composer, but this is not the case. CW Footnotes 1E te iwi Māori The original lyrics were “E te Hunga-Ruarua puritia kia mau”.  The term hunga-ruarua is a reference to the followers of the Māramatanga of Te Māreikura but the words were changed to “E te iwi Māori puritia kia mau” once it was sung outside of the Māramatanga, at the 1948 Hui Aranga. CW 2Te waka o te ora Te Waka o Te Ora, (the canoe of life), is an historic Māramatanga flag. It is navy-blue flag with a white crucifix and a brown boat. This flag, inspired by Pepene Ruka, was used to open the Māramatanga meeting-house at Levin. Its imagery evokes an idea of the Polynesian migration across the Pacific in a fleet of voyaging canoes to a new life in Aotearoa, and it also summons up the Christian ideology of a new order. The different meanings of waka (canoe, vessel, transporter) and ora (life, health, well-being, fulfilment) make for a complex and potent message. CW 3Te tauranga This term literally means fishing grounds or wharf, where the life-giving bounty of the sea is hauled up. However in this context the word bountiful is used to acknowledge what can be gained in uplifting oneself. CW 4Ururua This refers to all that is evil and burdensome.  Notice the spelling, “uru-rua.” You will find that many people sing either ‘rua-rua’ or ‘ua-ua’ which are incorrect. CW 5Kotahitanga In 1897 the parliament of the Kotahitangi Movement was established at Papawai Pa near present-day Greytown, Wairarapa. At the time, Papawai was an important political and cultural centre, famous for the great meetings held there. Tribal delegations from many parts of the country travelled there to discuss Government proposals, with Richard Seddon and King Mahuta among those present. 6Rangimarie Rangimarie suggests inner peace, tranquility, harmony, and should he distinguished from Maungārongo, discussed below. Another historic Māramatanga flag, Te Tohu o Te Rangimarie, (The Sign of Peace) was inspired by Peehi. The flag is white with a rainbow. The lettering is in red and white. The rainbow motif exemplifies the movement's concern with communication between the human and spiritual domain, and the rainbow is itself a sign of Tangi Wairua. KS 7Maungārongo Maungārongo suggests long-term external peace, truce, cessation from hostilities. Maungārongo marae is a significant community centre in Burns Street, Ohakune, and Te Ara o To Maungārongo (The Ark of Peace) is a light-blue flag with a white picture of a dove and crucifix. The inspiration for this flag was received by Te Mareikura's granddaughter Ritihira, who saw it as an exhortation from the spiritual realm to hold the peace. There is also a deliberate connection between the ark of the covenant, Noah's ark, and the notion of a movement of the faithful towards a new life. Ritihira's use of symbolism, and that of many others, tends to emphasize the Christian aspect of the movement's ideology. In all the flags described above, the symbols are layered with significance, enabling them to encompass multiple meanings and appeal to the range of individuals that comprise the Māramatanga. KS Māramatanga The Māramatanga (insight, enlightenment) movement flourishes today as a response of Maori to their Christianization, and then conquest, by Europeans in the 19th century. Its followers understand that the spiritual gifts of their ancestors had been handed down through a chain of prophets and prophetic movements; Pai Mārire, Ringatu, Te Whiti, Mere Rikiriki, Ratana, and Mareikura. Christianity had an ambiguous role in colonisation: once Maori began to suffer serious defeats, they had no choice but to redefine their relationship with the all-powerful Deity of the mission bible, separating themselves from the missionaries and Christian beliefs while continuing to retain faith in their own past.  What the Europeans called colonisation, Maori experienced as conquest. Their lands were taken from them, their customs ignored, and their cultural values violated. They responded with armed resistance, which only increased their experience of being conquered, and then with prophetic movements that kept them in touch with their past and insulated them from the intrusion of the interlopers. KS Pai Mariri In 1862, on the West Coast of the North Island, Te Ua Haumene (Te Ati Awa - Taranaki) a new religion called Pai Marire (good and gentle) after a visitation from the Angel Gabriel. Te Ua's followers identified themselves with the exiles of the Old Testament and distanced themselves from the New Testament and the missionaries. There would be no more Pakeha, and Aotearoa would once again belong to Maori, with angels instructing them in the sciences of the white man. Te Kooti On the East Coast of the North Island, an exiled Te Kooti saw in his experience a parallel to the Old Testament Jews' exile in Egypt; the Passover became the most distinctive festival of his Ringatu religion's calendar. Ringatu also revived elements of the old, pre-missionary Maori religion; sorcery once more served as an explanation for ill-fortune, and faith-healing became one of the most important Ringatu sacramental acts. These invocations validated past rituals and gave reassurance that the ancestral sources of power and authority were still effective. Te Whiti At Parihaka in 1863, Te Whiti formed a community opposed to the illegal land-grabbing of the colonial government. His symbol was the raukura, (three white albatross feathers denoting glory to God, peace on earth and goodwill to all men). He taught that Maori should be left alone to work out their salvation in their own way, as they had done successfully in the Waikato before the land wars. Secondly, no land should be sold to Europeans. Thirdly, further colonial attempts to to grab land should be countered peacefully by passive obstruction. Mere Rikiriki In the Rangitikei district in the 1910s, at Parewainui (near Bulls), Mere Rikiriki was recognised as a prophet, and founded a church based on Christian scriptures, and with a stress on the mediating role of the Holy Spirit and the unity of Maori under God and the Treaty of Waitangi. She practised faith healing and the use of Maori herbal remedies. She transformed the Maori prophetic tradition by shifting the paradigm from the Old to the New Testament, while still holding fast to older Maori beliefs. By delving into the past she sought answers and assistance for the present. For her, the missionaries' Bible did not replace the older Maori sources of revelation, it augmented them. Mere Rikiriki influenced both her nephew, T W Ratana, and also Mareikura Hori Enoka. KS Ratana T W Ratana's theory was that the Maori belong to the lost tribe of Israel who travelled through Persia and India down the Malaysian peninsula, across the Pacific and down to Aotearoa. The Ratana movement has evolved a formal church structure and has become involved in political activity, Mareikura mainly followed Rikiriki's charism as a faith-healer. Te Mareikura Hori Enoka Te Mareikura himself was an Anglican, but his wife Te Huinga was a Catholic. Her family's land at Ohakune became the movement's central marae, Maungārongo, and the movement's followers to this day are committed Catholics. He established himself at Ohakune as a gifted healer, attracting individuals who were sick, betrayed, or down on their luck. He gave freely and generously, whatever the cost, and however little he had himself, providing the unfortunate with food, clothing, and shelter, and offering them spiritual guidance. He made sure that sick children had money for medical care. (In more recent times, the movement's leaders have become involved in the work of government agencies on behalf of Maori). He also was concerned with his sacred undertaking of tapae, handing over to the Christian God evils from the past in order to render them powerless to cause new harm. KS Lena Lena was Maraeikura's granddaughter who died at age 14, and whose spirit returned to communicate with her family. Lena became Te Karere o te Aroha (the messenger of love), giving advice, or assistance when things were not going well. At the heart of her messages is the reassurance that Maori ancestral knowledge is still valid. KS Relationships with the wider Catholic Church By the mid 20th century, the Catholic Church had become very institutionalized and rigid in its beliefs and practice. This stifled spiritual growth, especially in non-European countries, and in 1962 Pope John XXIII called for a general council of all the world's Catholic bishops and scholars to change this. One of the documents issued by the council stated Throughout history even to the present day, there is found among different peoples a certain awareness of a hidden power, which lies behind the course of nature and the events of human life... This awareness and recognition results in a way of life that is imbued with a deep religious sense… However in 1970, when Fr Gerald Arbuckle, a priest who had been trained to think in the old institutionalied way, briefly observed a Māramatanga ritual, and could not understand how some of its members could receive messages while praying. He wrote a critical report of the movement that greatly upset its members. But after reading Karen Sinclair's study Prophetic Histories, the local bishop, Peter Cullinane, noted that Christians have always understood that the genuineness of various devotional practices can be tested by the difference they make to people’s lives. And he added that Māramatanga has sincere adherents who have made many sacrifices, involves deep piety, and has borne much good fruit. +PC Bishop Cullinaine also called to mind the words of Pope John Paul II on his visit to Auckland in 1986: The strengths of Māori culture are often the very values which modern society is in danger of losing:  an acknowledgement of the spiritual dimension of every aspect of life; a profound reverence for nature and the environment; a sense of community assuring every individual that he or she belongs; loyalty to family and a great willingness to share; an acceptance of death as part of life, and a capacity to grieve and mourn the dead in a human way. As you rightly treasure your culture, let the Gospel of Christ continue to penetrate and permeate it, confirming your sense of identity as a unique part of God’s household. Sources CW - Notes written by Che Wilson on the website of Maungārongo marae. KS - Karen Sinclair is an American cultural anthropologist who visited Maungārongo marae every year for 30 years, and wrote Prophetic histories : the people of the Māramatanga, (2002) +PC - The Reverend Peter Cullinane, Bishop of Palmerston North, The Relationship between the Māramatanga Movement and the Catholic Faith, (2004) Other Maori songs - Kiwi songs -Home Page placed onto the NZ Folksong website, Nov 1st, 2011