Hoea Rä Te Waka Nei, 1917

Come Where Duty Calls
Come Oh Maidens - A Mother as Lovely as You

<="Tune">Original 1917 lyrics

1. The 1917 version was "Hoea, hoea ki te pae" - Sail, sail to the horizon, i.e. Fight on together until the war is won.
But this line is now sung as Hoea, hoea ki te pai - paddle, paddle for the good (time), i.e. Let's enjoy ourselves now that the war is over.

2. The 1917 line was "E rahui i te pai" - Protect the common good - ie. Do your duty. But this line is now sung as Kia rere tika ai - Make it glide along the right way.

Sexual allusion Notice that in Maori culture, the pointed paddles wielded by the men and the slit-hulled canoe in which the women reclined were symbols of their respective sexual roles. So when the young soldiers came home from the war, this song was probably modified for use in love-games, with the man singing "Come on girls, bring your treasures here to me," and the girls provocatively responding with a request to "Paddle my canoe."

Origins of the Song

In July 1917 Paraire Tomoana took 55 men and women to perform at Waiomatatini (East Cape) at the marriage of Te Rina, daughter of Ngata, to Hetekia Te Kani Te Ua. There, and later at Manutuke and Gisborne, Paraire's group raised more than 250 Pounds.

This pre-1930 image was found in the Keystone-Mast Collection.
Does anyone recognise the location?

In September, following an invitation by Apirana Ngata, Pariare Tomoana took Te Poi o Heretaunga, as the group was now called, to Wellington. Forty-five men and women performed in the Wellington Town Hall from 3 to 5 September, and later gave a performance at Trentham Military Camp.

A canoe poi being performed in at the Christchurch Exhibition in 1907.

One of the songs they performed was written by Paraire, the later well-known Hoea ra te waka nei which was also known as Come where duty calls. The group raised £550 for the Maori Soldiers' Fund. At this time the 900 men of the Maori Pioneer Battalion were taking heavy losses digging combat trenches though the swamps of Passchendale and the Ypres Salient.

"Exhausted from days of paddling;" a canoe poi at Ruatoki in 1904.

Paraire announced that the group, billed as Te Ope Ngahau o Heretaunga (the dance group of Heretaunga), was to perform for 10 days at Christmas in Auckland.

Adapted from Angela Ballara and Ngatai Huata's biography of Paraire Tomoana in the Dictionary of NZ Biography

Tomoana's 1919 Manuscript

Tomoana first published the 1917 lyrics of Hoea ra te waka nei in this 1919 fund-raising booklet, which the Alexander Turnbull Library kindly sent me a photocopy of. (It also has the words of Te Ope Tuatahi, and when this booklet was reprinted in 1921, Tomoana also included the lyrics of Pokarekare. in it.)

A NOBLE SACRIFICE" AND "HOEA RA TE WAKA NEI" ("COME WHERE DUTY CALLS") Words and Action arranged by Hon A. T. Ngata and P. H. Tomoana PROCEEDS IN AID OF MAORI SOLDIERS' FUND

Hoea ra te Waka Nei (COME WHERE DUTY CALLS ) (Poi song imitating in action the crew of a war canoe) Maori 1. Haeremai e hine ma, Me nga taonga o te wa, He reo karanga i katoa, Haeremai ki au. Chorus Hoea ra te waka nei. Hoea, hoea ki te pai. Ma te poi e karawhiu E rahui i te pai. 2. Me pehea ra e taea ai Te aroha pehi kino nei, Mo te tau i pamamao Haeremai ki au 3. Koia ra e hine ma Koha kore noa te pai. Haere me te atawhai Ka rahui i te pai. 4. Na te ngakau tangi ra Ko te tiwaiwaka nei Te poi ka hoea atu nei He tohu no te pai.       English Come ye maidens, come to me Singing songs of melody Crying near and far to all "Come where duty calls." Then together we will draw This canoe until the end, To the goal the world desires Peace and joy for all. Would you still the aching heart Ease the pain that gnaws within For the dear ones far away Gone where duty calls Cleansed by war of all its dross Love is gleaming strong and bright. In our hearts we vow to serve Where our duty calls Small may be this our canoe Floating in a sea of tears Tribute to the brave who fell Where their duty called. The English version is a free rendering of the Maori, and must not be taken as a correct translation. It seeks to convey to an English audience the motive of the poi-dancers in making their appeal to the patriotism of the public.