Maori Songs - Kiwi Songs - Home

A protest against the clear-felling of Pureora State Forest, near Te Kuiti.

Tārere ana au, i te aka o te rata; I te waonui o Pureora, Aue! Tārere e he pungawerewere; Piri i te pito o te tukutuku; Poipoia nei e te hau. Puhipuhi e pātuki ohorere taku manawa Pātuki pakakē aku taringa; I te wēwē wēwē o te kani mīhini; Pua auahi poro rākau Rere ana te kongakonga; Rere ana te maramara; Wawā wawā wawā te wao o Pureora. I te wēwē wēwē wēwē o te kani mīhini; Pua auahi poro rākau Oma kau ana ki te tauhuna i ahau Pātuki ohorere taku manawa; I te porotanga o te waonui ō Pureora. Aue, taukiri e! Aue, taukiri e! Kua mutu. I'm swinging out on a rata vine in the great Pureora forest, Yaaaay! swinging like a spider attached by an umbilical cord from its web billowing about in the breeze. Then a loud noise starts my heart pounding for suddenly assaulting my ears is the whining of a chainsaw clouds of tree-cutting smoke sawdust flying woodchips flailing scattering bits of Pureora forest everywhere. The whining of that chainsaw and clouds of tree-cutting smoke makes me run away to hide myself, my heart suddenly pounding at the felling of the great Pureora forest. Alas, so sad! Alas, so sad! It is all coming to an end. Pureora Forest In 1840 around two thirds of New Zealand was still covered in virgin forest. Then between 1840 and 1980, the largest trees in the forests were felled for timber, or the forest was burnt off for sheep-farming. In 1946 Pureora Forest was one of the last native forests to be opened up for logging. One of New Zealand's most significant conservation battles took place there in 1978. Protestors occupied platforms built in the treetops and their actions led to a government-imposed logging moratorium. Eventually this brought about the end of native forest logging throughout all of New Zealand. Pureora on record 1998, Hirini Melbourne, Te Kururoa CD Dr. Hirini Melbourne Tühoe, Kahungunu. Composer, university lecturer. Hirini Melbourne devoted his life to promoting Maori language, culture and music. Of Tuhoe descent, he was a native speaker of Maori. As a student at Auckland University in the 1970s, he was a member of Maori activist organisation Nga Tamatoa, which petitioned Government to have Maori taught in schools as part of its focus on Maori identity. He began writing songs and stories to fit with the urban experience of Maori of his generation and turned his frustration with the quality of educational resources for Maori into action by becoming editor of Maori School Publications. In a class of his own, he led the resurgence of traditional Maori music, and over the years he has composed many Maori songs, including the popular Tihore Mai Te Rangi, and he has produced more than 20 recordings. The music critic Elizabeth Ellis says his simple but beguiling melodies, combined with his poetic lyrics in te reo Maori, have appealed to a wide range of people, including children. His discovery of traditional Maori musical instruments led him on a journey of discovery around New Zealand as he researched their histories and uses through asking the old people. Working with with musician Richard Nunns and instrument-maker Brian Flintoff, he led the revival of a Maori tradition that was almost stamped out. He has used these Maori instruments in the feature films Mauri and Once Were Warriors, and these instruments are now widely used by musicians and in kapa haka performance. He served as a member of the board of the New Zealand Film Commission and the New Zealand Music Commission and as an assessor for Te Waka Toi and the Arts Board of Creative New Zealand over many years. He also composed music for various festivals, productions and orchestras. In 2002, he was teaching in the School of Maori and Pacific Development at Waikato University, and working for his doctoral thesis on the history and development of Maori Music entitled From when the gods sang, to the present. In March 2002, he received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Waikato, and in July 2002 he received the Te Waka Toi Exemplary Award for outstanding leadership and service to Maori arts and culture. In the 2003 New Year Honours, Dr Melbourne was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Maori language, music and culture. He died not long after, at his family home in Hamilton, on Jan 6 2003, after a long battle with cancer. The range and depth of Hirini's knowledge and activities in Maori language, music, literature and historical research was formidable: he made an enormous contribution to New Zealand's cultural landscape. In June 2003, a posthumous CD, with accompanying DVD of discussions and performances, recorded in the final weeks of his life, increased that contribution. The album, Te Hekenga-a-rangi,uses traditional instruments incorporating subtle layering of the sounds in the studio and invoking atua wahine (female deities). More details Te Hekenga-a-rangi Other Maori Songs - Main Song List - Home Published NZ Folksong website on 15 Jan, 2010