NEW  ZEALAND
FOLK * SONG

E Minaka Ana
Pania Papa, 1990s

Kiwi Songs - Maori songs - Home





Kia kaha tātou
Ki te (HI!) kōrero Māori!

E minaka ana taku waha
Ki te kai a te rangatira,
Taku reo rangatira
Taku kuru pounamu tuku iho.

Mīharo kē ana
Ki tōna pakari kia ora
Tē memeha, te wairua
ki te kōrero Māori

Kia kaha tātou
Ki te kōrero Māori!

Let us be staunch
in speaking Maori!

I desire that
my talk be like that of a leader,
my noble language
my precious inheritance.

Astound me
with your maturity by
the evanescence, the spirit you show
when speaking Maori.

Let us be staunch
in speaking Maori!


Tune

The "rangi" of this waiata is "Something Stupid"

  F               F6             Fmaj7              F
I know I stand in line until you think you have the time to spend the 
Gm7          C9   Gm7   C9
evening with me
    Gm7          C7                Gm7                 C7   
And if we go someplace to dance, I know that there's a chance you won't be 
Fmaj7           F6   Fmaj7  F6
leaving with me
     F7            Cm7         F7                            
Then afterwards we drop into a quiet little place and have a 
Bb           Bb6   Bbmaj7  Bb6
drink or two
    C7                            Gm7              C7             C7/F F
And then I go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like "I love you"


      F7             Cm7              F7                                        
I can see it in your eyes you still despise the same old lies you heard the 
Bb            Bb6  Bbmaj7  Bb6
night before
    G7                 Dm7              G7                              
And though it's just a line to you, for me it's true and never felt so 
C7
right before...

Pania Papa, M.Soc.Sci

- Ngati Koroki-Kahukura, Raukawa

- Maori Language & Education Consultant.

- former lecturer in Maori Studies at Waikato University.

- leader of the Rangimarie senior kapa haka group at Hamilton.

- co-author of a compilation of the oral history of Ngati Koroki-Kahukura, He Kete Waiata A Basket of Songs

- director of the kapa haka, "Whale Rider On Stage."

Kiwi songs - Maori Songs - Home

This web page was published in July 2005