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Wi Huata wrote this song in the 1950s. He taught it to his children whilst on a family gathering at Lake Tutira, north of Napier. He was explaing how iwi had traditionally come together here to support each other. Later he used this song to promote Moral Re-armament, uniting different cultures.
A Tūtira mai ngā iwi D A Tātou tātou e Tūtira mai ngā iwi B7 E7 Tātou tātou e A Whai-a te marama-tanga D A me te aroha - e ngā iwi! D Ki-a k'tapa-tahi, 1 A Ki-a ko-tahi rā. E7 A Tātou tātou e. Sing it all a second time. Then finish with... D E7 A Tā - tou, tā - 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! Think as one, Act as one. All of us, all of us. All of us, all of us!! Hi aue hei !!! |
The line that is sung as "Ki-a k'ta-pa-ta-hi" has been written down variously in print as
.. Kia tapatahi,
.. Kia ko tapatahi
.. Kia ka tapatahi.
The correct grammar would appear to be
.. Kia tapatahi - Be named as one
.. Kia kotahi ra - Be acting as one also.
But to help everyone singing it to actually act as one, the poetry requires repetition here.
And so it is sung as
. "Kia k' tapatahi
.. Kia kotahi ra"
But when that singing is written down, the k' sound is sometimes written as ko and at other times ka.
Williams' dictionary says ko is in front of a noun, for emphasis.
But tapatahi is not a noun, its a verb.
However Williams also says 'ka is used in Maori poetry, possibly as an abbreviated form of whaka-.
Perhaps it would be grammatically correct (but very confusing) to write it as
.. Kia 'katapataki, being an abbreviation of Kia whaka-tapa-taki "Be like those who call themselves one people
Padre Huata 1943 |
He accompanied 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.
After his retirement in 1982 he was involved with the Tu Tangata and Kohanga Reo. He died in Hastings in 1991 and was buried at Ramoto, Wairoa.
For more details see, Huata, Wiremu Te Tau 1917 - 1991, Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
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Broadscreen page put onto website August 31 2003, revised May 2008 and April 2011. This cellphone page made Aug 2012.