NEW  ZEALAND
FOLK * SONG 		Tutira Mai Nga Iwi
Maori lyrics Canon Wi Huata, 1950s, to music "from the USA"

Kiwi Songs - Maori songs - Home

Wi Huata wrote this song and taught it to his children whilst on a family gathering to Lake Tutira, north of Napier. He was explaining how the iwi came together here to support each other. Later he used this song to promote Moral Re-armament, uniting different cultures.

A 
Tutira mai nga iwi
D           A
Tatou tatou e

Tutira mai nga iwi
B7          E7
Tatou tatou e
A
Whai-a te marama-tanga
D        A
me te aroha - e nga iwi!
D
Ki-a ko tapa-tahi, FOOTNOTE
A
Ki-a kotahi ra.		
E7          A 
Tatou tatou e.

Sing it all a second time.

Then finish with...
D          E7       A 
Ta  - tou, ta - tou E!!   

Hi aue hei !!!
 

Line up together, people

All of us, all of us. 

Stand in rows, people 

All of us, all of us.

Seek after knowledge

and love of others - everybody!

Be really virtuous

And stay united. 

All of us, all of us.





All of us, all of us!!

Hi aue hei !!!

Long Vowels






Please notice the second syllable "Tiiii" is sung for 3 times as long as the next  " r' ", to give the song a syncopated lift. Don't hammer the song out like preschoolers, with both those notes the same length.

FOOTNOTE Kia or Kia Ka or Kia Ko?

Usually Kia has the accent on the "Ki" as in Kia kaha. But to keep the rhythm of the song, people usually sing
. "Kia k' tapatahi, Kia kotahi ra."

In the 1950s Wi Huata wrote
.. Kia tapatahi - Be united, think of ourselves as one people

And originally it would have been sung as "Kia tapatahi, Kia kotahi ra," with a broken rhythm.

But over the decades the folk process has shifted the emphasis to the strong "-a" and a k' has been inserted as a filler after it.

This enabled "Kia k' tapatahi" to match "Kia kotahi ra," of the next line. This repetition of the six strong "a" sounds and the repeated K, k, t, t, K, k, t, t sounds actually creates a sense of unity among the singers.

Some songbooks have written this as Kia ko tapatahi, and some as Kia ka tapatahi.

Williams' dictionary says ko can be put in front of a word for emphasis.

The dictionary also says 'ka is used in Maori poetry, possibly as an abbreviated form of whaka-.

Perhaps it would be grammatically correct to write it as Kia 'katapatahi, being an abbreviation of Kia whaka-tapa-tahi "Be like one people."

Remember this is a call for unity. So the main thing is to all sing it in a unified way. Having some of the group singing Wi Huata's original "correct" lines while others sing the traditional rhythmical lines is not showing unity, eh?


Chords

Bar chords are usually used to accompany this song. The guitar is strummed,

A
D
B7
E7

Canon Wiremu (Wi) Te Tau Huata, MC, QSO, CBE (1917 - 1991)

Ngati Kahungunu; Anglican priest, military chaplain. Born at Mohaka, the eighth of eleven children of Hemi Pititi Huata and his wife, Ropine Aranui.

Early Years

From the age of 7 on, he attended Mohaka Native School. This meant walking about four miles each way, barefoot. When he was nine he had pneumonia and was unconscious for ten days. In 1933, aged 16, he began form three at Te Aute College which had just become a theological college also. He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1940. While serving as assistant curate in Hastings, he developed contacts with the Tomoana family.

Army Chaplain

In 1943, he joined the 28th New Zealand (Maori) Battalion as chaplain.

Padre Huata 1943
Part of the "training" Wi had received at the hands of other Maoris of the contingent, was instruction in the art of saluting with the left hand. This caused great hilarity on the troopship until he was put straight.

He was conned by the Colonel of the battalion to accompany the men on the front line of the battle, where he became father-confessor to soldiers of all denominations. His duties included finding bodies and supervising the digging of trenches for the dead - both Maori and German - reading the burial service, and recording the location of the burials.

When they were back in the rear, he captained the battalion rugby team, helped to stage concerts, and conducted prayers and hymns before battle again. He learnt Italian songs and he was famous for his rendition of 'Buona notte mio amore,' providing a running commentary as he went.
Buona notte mi' amore
Buona notte mio cuore
Sogna tutti miei baci
Sogna sola di me . . . 		Goodnight my love
Goodnight my heart
I dream of many kisses
I dream only of you . . .

Pastoral work

Captain Wi Huata MC returned to new Zealand with the Maori Battalion in January 1946, and returning to Hastings to resume his ministry, he married Ybel Tomoana, daughter of Kuini and Paraire Tomoana. After a stint in Rotorua, he moved, in 1952 to the King Country and Waikato. He organised hui and church conventions, including a national hui at Ngaruawahia in 1962. He also set up He Toa Takitini, an association to promote Maori arts and crafts and goodwill; its concert party travelled to marae around the country and in 1966 to Australia. He also assisted the Maori Women's Welfare League and promoted Moral Re-armament amongst Maori.

After his retirement in 1982 he was involved with the Tu Tangata and Kohanga Reo. In 1986 he travelled to San Francisco to lift the tapu on the Te Maori art exhibition there. He died in Hastings in 1991 and was buried at Ramoto, Wairoa.

For more details see, Huata, Wiremu 1917 - 1991, Dictionary of New Zealand Biography

The Moral Re-Armament movement
This Oxford Group started among Oxford University students in the late 1920s. In 1938, as nations re-armed for war, its originator, Frank Buchman called for a 'moral and spiritual rearmament' to work towards a 'hate-free, fear-free, greed-free world'. At the end of the War, under the name Moral Re-Armament (MRA), a program of moral and spiritual reconstruction helped to reconcile former enemies, such as France and Germany.

Current initiatives are aimed at:

  • Encouraging care and responsibility in personal relationships and family life, in place of 'me-centredness' and blame;
  • Strengthening moral commitment in economic life, in order to create jobs and tackle the root causes of poverty; (Canon Huata did much to get new industries established in his home town of Wairoa, so as to create jobs for his people there)

  • Strengthening the foundations of democracy that guard against selfish interests, corruption and indifference.
  • Forging networks among people from different faiths and cultures. (As president of the organisation known as Te Kotahitanga Tautoru, Huata helped develop a Maori inter-church, recreational and cultural centre near New Plymouth)

  • Healing the wounds of history.
    (Huata revitalised the Anglican church among Maori who associated it with the government's attack on Waikato)

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Page put onto website August 31 2003,         
revised May 2008, April 2011 and March 2019.