NEW  ZEALAND
FOLK * SONG 		Ehara i te Mea
Eru Timoko Ihaka

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An easy-to-learn waiata that is commonly sung at powhiri, tanngihanga and other marae gatherings.



Ehara i te mea1
Nō nāianei te aroha
Nō nga tūpuna
Tuku iho, tuku iho

Te whenua, te whenua
Te oranga o te iwi
Nō nga tūpuna
Tuku iho, tuku iho

Whakapono, tumanako
Te aroha te aroha;
Nō nga tūpuna
Tuku iho, tuku iho.

Not the thing
of recent times, is love
but by the ancestors it has been
passed down, passed down.

From the land, the land
comes the wellbeing of the people;
by the ancestors it has been
passed down, passed down.

Faith, hope
and love;
by the ancestors they have been
passed down, passed down.

Two tunes

This song has been sung in schools for at least 40 years, and is now sung by adult choirs.

It used to be sung with this quick simple child's tune.

But adults now sing it with this slower, more ornate tune. As it is a short song, it is usually sung twice, with more harmonising the second time.

Whakatauki

This song embodies an old Maori proverb (whakatauki),

'Te toto o te tangata he kai, te oranga o te tangata he whenua.'
'Food is the blood of the people, but the welfare of the people lies in the land.'

The land is not just a source of sustenance to the body but also a source of wellbeing; physically, mentally and spiritually.

As the descendants of Papatuanuku (Mother Earth), we do not just live on the land or rely on it for food, we belong to it.

1 Ehara i te mea

Ehara i te mea he aha... This is a common phrase. "It's not a thing to get worked up about, but..."

E hara (sic) i te mea (???)

This is a common spelling error that has arisen with the new, slower variation of the tune. "Hara" means sin.
So when you write "E hara i te mea nō nāianei" you are saying "Sinning is the thing of recent times." !!!

Eru Timoko Ihaka

Eru was born at Te Kao in 1876, the son of Ihaka Haami Kemara (Te Aupouri) and Arerina Paraone Ngaruhe (Te Aupouri). He was educated at Te Kao Native School and later went to St Stephens School in Parnell, Auckland. He took up the occupation of dairy farmer, and in 1903 he married Te Paea Reewe Hinks. They had 15 children, the eleventh being Archdeacon Kingi Ihaka.

 Eru was the leading chief of Te Aupouri tribe in this time, he was an active participant in abolishing native superstition. He encouraged iwi to become educated and to work the land profitably.

Eru was a devoted Christian, an active churchman and a licensed lay reader for more than thirty years. He died at Te Kao in 1937, aged 60 years.  

 

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Page placed onto the NZ Folksong website, July 9, 2011, added to in Feb 2012.