In
1820,
just before his Ngati Toa people were driven out of
Kawhia, Te Rauparaha needed to say to his warriors, “There
are enemy closing in all around us, they have ravished
some of our most noble women, but they will do so no
more; and in the end there will be peace.”
He was fully occupied
with organizing the defences of his various
fortifications. He was weakened and in pain from boils.
He had neither the time nor the energy to compose a new
haka, and his warriors did not have time to learn it.
Pei
Te Hurinui Jones notes how he altered the kumara pit
version of the Kikiki/Ka Mate haka for its performance
as a ngeri before this battle by
adding half a dozen lines borrowed from a
third chant, Haramai
Ana (bottom of this page)
As is usual with chants of this nature, the topical
allusions are generally altered to suit the
circumstances and the personalities concerned at the
time the performance is given.
(Te Hurinui, 1960)
Looking at the Maori words below, taken from Te Hurinui
Jones’ historical novel “King Potatau” (1960) we see how
Te Rauparaha modified the first stanza of Haramai Ana to
refer to the encircling enemy, rearranged half a dozen
phrases (green text)
from his kumara pit version of Kikiki Kakaka to refer to
the high-born Ngati Toa women who had been violated, and
then used Ka Mate at the end as an expression of hope.
Haramai
ana te rongo
o te riri!
I
Mua! I Muri!
I
a Muriwhenua!
I a Te Maha i ara!
E hara teke pakupaku, e
Kui!
E hara teke pakupaku, e Koro
E kei te uru? E kei te tonga!
E kei te rakau pakeke ki au, e! |
Tidings
of war are coming
From
nearby, from far away,
from
the Far North!
The
Many hsve risen up!
Not a small source of men, O Lady!
Not a small source of men O Sir!
From the West! From the South!
From the rugged bush country to me.
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Kikiki!
Koko,
ko!
Kei
waniwania taku hika,
Kei
tara wahia
Kei
te rua i te karokaro!
He
pounga rahui!
He
uira ki te Rangi!
Ketekete
mai hoki to poru
kai-riri:
“Mau
au, e Koro e?”
“I
a, ka wehi au, ka mataku!
Ko
wai te tangata kia rere ure?
Tirohanga
nga rua rerarera,
He
a kuri kamukamu!
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Stutter with
rage!
Keep
digging!
lest
my daughter is touched
lest
her crotch be cleft
lest
her vagina be
used like a slave’s!
It
is a forbidden hidden place!
A
lightning flash from the sky-god
Rangi,
astonished
by the hostile mould of
that face;
“Will
you, O Sir, possess me?
The
thought of it makes me quail!”
Who
is the man with rampant penis?
He
is looking into the depths of her
thighs
Like
a dog seeking
food |
Ka
mate! Ka mate!
Ka
ora! Ka ora!
Tenei
te tangata puhuruhuru
Nana
nei i tiki mai
Whakawhiti
te ra!
Upane!
Upane!
Upane!
Ka upane!
Whiti
te ra!
(Te
Hurinui Jones, 1960)
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O
Death! O Death!
Then
a new life! Rebirth!
Here
is the virile man
Who
makes
the
sun to shine!
Side
by side, shoulder to shoulder,
Step
forward, all together
Into
the sun that shines!
(Translation
by JA)
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After
he and his people retreated from Kawhia harbour a few
weeks later, Te Rauparaha commemorated their escape by
modifying Wharetiki's Te
Tai o Kawhia to create Nga
Tai o Honipaka.
Haramai
Ana
Elsdon Best collected Haramai Ana as a
rangi pakuru from the Tuhoe people.
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Haramai
ana te riri i raro
I a Muri-whenua, i a Te Maha ia
ra,
Ehara ra teke pakupaku, e ko
Kai te uru, kai te tonga
Kai te rakau pakeke—hi—aue!
Takoru te raho o Te Kete
I tē nga unga
iho ata
Tai arorangi—ha!
Kai riri koe ki te waihotanga iho
O te parekura
Ko Maunga-tautari
Te tangata tirotiro
Mo te aha ra
Mo te hanga ra
E tatari tonu mai te hanga kiki to
Toro rororo, turi raukaha, kiki to.
(Best,
1901)
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War
is coming down
From the Far North clans, from the Many
Not from the little source of men over there
From the West, from the South
From the rugged bush country, yeah!
Threefold will be the plan of Te Kete
bursting the landings in the morning
from the coast, then upwards.
You fight for the key bequest
of the battlefield,
Maungatautari,
the observer
of everything below
and of the
activities there
always monitoring your crowded ways
acertaining your mind, so crowded, crowded.
(Translation
by JA)
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Webpage put onto folksong.org.nz website April 2020.
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