This chant is commonly used when calling visitors onto a marae, just after the karanga.

A woman from the host side will first call (karanga) to indicate to the visitors (manuhiri) to move forward on to the marae. A woman from the manuhiri then returns the call as the manuhiri move forward onto the marae. The purpose of these two karanga is to weave a spiritual rope to allow the waka of the manuhiri to be pulled on to the marae. See HERE for more details.

After the women doing the karanga have woven the rope, the haka pōwhiri pulls on the canoe of the manuhiri, hence the reason 'Tōia mai te waka' is used at so many pōwhiri.

The call of the haka powhiri likens the arrival of the group of visitors to the safe arrival of a canoe, with its paddlers and passengers, to the shore. The voices of the haka powhiri symbolically represent the rope by which the visitors are pulled safely onto the marae. See HERE for more details.

Often those doing the pōwhiri hold greenery in their hands. The greenery should be specially chosen ensuring that there are both light and dark leaves, (often silver fern and kawakawa) representing life and death, and reminding us that that life and death are interwoven.

This theme of interwoven life and death is often reinforced by following Tōia Mai with the Ka mate, ka mate; kia ora, kia ora chant.