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Waiata
Maori Song

Feb 2024  - Isa Lei - a Fijian administrator in Suva farewells his childhood island paradise.
Feb 2024  - Fa'ama'i - an incompetent NZ administrator in Samoa caused 8500 deaths
Jan 2024  - He Aha Kei Taku Uma - WW2 anti-racist song, sung for new Maori MP
Sept 2023 - Taku Patu - Any improvements to this new page would be welcomed.

The top 20

  1. Tutira Mai Nga Iwi Unite!
  2. Purea Nei for a blind student
  3. Tiaho Mai Ra at tangihanga
  4. Ka Pioioi Welcome back home!
         

Mōteatea

1200s Toia Tainui Tapotu
    - haul Tainui to the sea

1300s Toi Tu Te Hoe
    - steering Aotea to Aotearoa.
1300s Te Matuku i Hea?
    - Where's the bittern?

1400s Tua Tua Koi Ranginui
    - Takitimu escapes storm.
  


...and haul up a song
from your own district.

Waiata for pre-schoolers

Song writers

Singers



Maori Dictionaries On-line

You can refer to 11 online Maori and Polynesian dictionaries HERE

Or enter a Maori or English word below.


Maori song reference material

Maori songbook contents.
This is a list I have made of all the song titles in the Maori songbook below and other older songbooks.

Waiata Maori (1992)

by T. H. Rikihana.
300+ Maori songs with translations.
Two photocopied volumes plus 6 CDs.
A powerpoint sequence showing how songs that both races could sing together helped to unite us, during and after WWI.

Souvenir Program - Ngarimu VC Investiture, Ruatoria, 6 October 1943. This is a great taonga, 
(or kura really; taonga are heavy) with many old waiata and haka fully described and translated HERE. There are also sound files from that day HERE.

CD recording hints
Alan Armstrong has some good advice for those recording a Maori concert CD.

Academic users
Note that these pages were researched and written for those with a 10-14 year-old reading level, so
please read here.

Waiata Aroha
from 1840s to 1990s.
introduced by Prof. Timoti Kāretu.

Whati - mistakes in waiata
Some changes are part of a song's development, others are careless mistakes.

Difficulties translating moteatea
Invented words, need for euphony, reference to old stories and customs.

Traditional karakia, and Christianity
Different cultures' ways towards an experience of our oneness with all things.

Other Maori/Polynesian Song sites

Delma's Youtube's karaoke of 150 waiata
Nereana's Youtube's karaoke of 30 waiata
TKI  - words, Eng, tunes, teaching notes.
Te Ao Hou, online magazine. Searching is needed, but very rewarding  Waiata
St. Joseph's MGC: school songs
Ngati Ranginui: waiata
Wairarapa: moteatea
Polynesian songs Hawaii   Samoa  Tahiti
Old Polynesian chants - Eng translations
Moriori   Tonga   Samoa   Rarotonga  Niue
Tahiti   Tokelau   Hawaii   Many others

You can help NZ Folksong

1. Help improve this website's content - check these lyrics, translations and explanations for accuracy - I'm a researcher and language translator, not a native speaker of Maori.

2. Send me the lyrics and background details of other well-known songs. E-mail me.

3. Comments, questions, criticism, suggestions, song clips, lyrics, photos? Put them on our Facebook page.

Editor's note

Kia ora koutou 

I've just turned 82 and covid has not caught me yet. But if  this website disappears after I eventually die, you can find a copy of it on the Web Archive. (June 2022)

My 1980s-90s hobby was learning about songs of the rural white New Zealand way of life. I started this NZ Folk Song website in 1998 to make information about these Pakeha songs available to others.

But people kept e-mailing me to ask for information about Māori songs as well. So I started this page to help my visitors. And it has grown to become my most visited page by far, more than 2000 times each week.

To find out about different versions of old Maori songs, I use Google to search all the 19th century Maori documents that are now on the internet, and I also use the NZ National Library's online music catalogue.

I'm finding a wealth of information about waiata in all twenty years of copies of Te Ao Hou that are online.

The most useful printed resource I have for words and translations is Waiata Maori by the late Toby Rikihana. This is a compilation of about 300 waiata for primary and secondary school teachers of te Reo Māori. If you are in NZ, you can hunt for it at your local library or Kohanga Reo. Here is how you can buy it.

And recently I have bought all 4 volumes of Apirana Ngata's Nga Moteatea.

I also have these Maori songbooks too. If you would like me to hunt through them for you, e-mail me.

John Archer
Ngati Tumatauenga
Ohakune


Songs in Maori

Full details - songwriters - dates - stats

Aio Ki Te Aorangi - a hymn to Mother Earth
Akoako o te Rangi - love song
Anei ko Hone Heke e - the Flagstaff War
Anei Ra Te Whanau - strength for those in rehab
Ara! Ka Titiro - courting song
Arohaina Mai - WW2 farewell song
Atu i te Uenuku - Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Au, E Ihu - WW2 soldiers' hymn
Aue Te Aroha - Maramatanga spirituality
Aue Mama Aue Papa  - WW2 soldier's song
Awhi Reinga - Air NZ TV advert
E Ihowa Atua - National Anthem
E Ipo - love song
E Kiwi E - Support for 28th Maori Battalion
E Ko Te Tui - heralding a new dawn
E Kore Au E Ngaro - I'll not forget my origins
E Minaka Ana - Maori language pride
E Noho Ana Au - tour of Ngati Ranginui lands
E Noho E Rata - 1917 anti-war song
E Noho Tuheitia - Kingitanga
E Pa To Hau - lament for stolen land
E Pari Ra - lament
E Papa Waiari - stick game
E Te Hokowhitu A Tū - 1940, for soldiers
E Te Iwi E - song of welcome
E Timu Ra Koe - 1830s Tb epidemic
E To Matou Matua - The Lord's Prayer
E Toru Nga Mea - communal hymn
E Tu, Stand Proud - rap protest
E Tū Tautoko Noho -  freezing workers 
E Waka E - Taranaki's Rima Whakarua
Ehara I Te Mea - children's song for powhiri
Ei Tākiri Mai - 1880s rugby song
Engari Te Tītī - left behind beside Waikaremoana
Haere Mai - Welcome, several versions
Engari Te Tītī - left behind beside Waikaremoana
Haere Mai - Welcome, several versions
Hakirara Tamariki - old, old children's chants
Haruru Ana - follow the gospel message
He Aha Kei Taku Uma? - fighting Capitalists
He Aha Ra Te Manu? - obtaining a spouse
He Honore - often sung at powhiri
He Kākano Ahau - a seed from Rangiatea
He Kau Rā - mocking land-eating Pakeha
He Kōroria Hareruia - Ratana fundamentals
He Potiki Mo Wharaurangi - oriori with Hau
He Pūru Taitama - a young bull
He Putiputi Koe/Pai - you are my flower
He Tangi te Kiwi - waka portaging chant
He Wawata - lament for a lost daughter
Hei Konei Ra - Freezing workers farewell
Hikurangi - with Maui's waka on its summit
Hine E Hine - lullaby
Hinemoa - tune for long poi
Hitara Waha Huka - mocking Hitler
Hoea Rā Te Waka Nei - 1917 supporting soldiers
Hoea Hoea Rā - 1940s canoe poi
Hoea Rā Ngā Waka - 1970s land march
Ho...ki Hoki - WW1 waiata a tāngi
Hoki Mai - waiata a ringa
Hurihuri - tītī tōrea
I Runga Nga Puke - WW1 waiata a ringa
I Te Pō  - a departed uncle is called a kōtuku
Ka Eke Ki Wairaka - lovers separated
Ka Mate - ancient haka
Ka Panapana woman's haka
Ka Piata te Wairua - your shining spirit
Ka Pioioi - a lively welcome back home
Ka Rū, Ka Rū - fishing song
Kai Tangata - destroy your enemy!
Ka Waiata ki a Maria - himene
Kaore he Pouri i Aotearoa- no depression in NZ
Kaore Hoki Koia Te Rangi Nei - Puhiwahine
1st Kaore Hoki te Mānukanuka
    -  1871 call to unite and rebuild
2nd Kaore Hoki te Mānukanuka 
    
- 1881 - Stop Pakeha land theft!
Kaore te Aroha Mohukihuki ana
    
- an old love song
Kaore te Aroha e Huri Runga Ra
    
- longing for northern iwi
Kapa o Pango - new All Black haka
Karanga Karanga - join the performance
Karangatia Rā - waiata a ringa
Kia Kaha Nga Iwi - strength for young Maori
Kia Ora Ra Koutou - for returning soldiers
Kīkō Kīkō - birdcalls' guiding messages
Kiwi Weka - wartime love with US soldiers
Ko Niu Tireni - 1924 All Black haka
Ko Uhia Mai - the Black Ferns' haka
Korero Tara -  animal tales making a point.
Kororia -  The work of TS Ratana.
Kotahi Kapua - revitalising Maori custom.
Kotahitanga - disco beat
Kotiro Maori E - Rongomaiwahine
Kotiro Maori - Rotorua tourist poi
Koutou Katoa Ra - funeral hymn
Ko Mātou - touching Maori treasures
Ko Wai Ka Hua - WW2 love song
Kohu Auahi - Blue Smoke
Kua Tae Mai Nei Mātou- Tuwharetoa arise!
Kura Tīwaka Kaua - Takitimu turiwaka
Ma Wai Ra - Who will be responsible?
Ma Whakaiti Tatou - let us be humble
Mainstream NZ Songs - sung in Te Reo
Mai Nga Ra o Mua - women's hockey champs
Māku e Mihi - Volcanics good wishes
Māku Ra Pea - I will guide you
Manini Waka - army haka
Manu Tiria - ancient kumara-planting chant
Mārie Te Pō - carol "Silent Night"
Maringi Noa - love, like being swept downriver
Matangi - steamship journeys
Matua Whangai foster parenting, a challenge
Me He Manu Rere - waiata a ringa
Mihi Mai Ra - lets live together in love
Moe Mai Ra - Brahms lullaby
Moe Moe Mai Ra - Suo Gan lullaby
Moe Moe Moemoeā - Don't Dream It's Over 
Nau mai, Piki mai - call for unity
Nga Iwi E - hold on to your inheritance
Nga Puawai o Ngapuhi - Blossoming lives
Ngā Tai o Honipaka - Ngati Toa leave Kawhia
Nga Tamariki o te Kohu children of the mist
Nga Whare Pa - Open wide your doors
Ngoi Ngoi - praise for Poi-E's composer
Onioni - moteatea with sexuality
Pa Mai Te Reo Aroha
Paikea - the whale rider
Pakete Whero - a racy love affair
1st Pinepine te Kura - training a young tohunga
2nd Pinepine te Kura Te Kooti and betrayers 
Po Atarau - Now is the Hour
Po! Po! - kumara origins
Poia Atu Taku Poi - Erenora's suitors
Poi-E - 1984 hit song
Pokarekare Ana - love song
Poropeihana - protesting prohibition
Pounamu Rama Nei - It's fun drinking rum!
Punipuni - hand games
Purea Nei - Fly, oh free spirit !
Pureora - anti-logging protest
Pūrerehua - lullaby
Rimurimu - lament
Rona - the woman in the moon
Rū Ana Te Whenua - thrash tribute to Gate Pa
Ruawharo - the tohunga of the Takitimu
Ruia Ruia like Godwits, you achieve impossible
Tahi Nei Taru Kino - love song
Tai Aroha - love is like a gushing spring of water
Tahu-pōtiki - Sth Island Maori, rise up!
Takawirihanga - the whakapapa of the poi
1st Takoto Rawa Iho - revenge for dead warriors
2nd Takoto Rawa Iho - Ke Kooti calls for peace
Taku Rakau E - a young Tuhoe widow's lament.
Taku Patu - CQB weapon training
Taku Toki
- Ancient greenstone chant
Tama Ngakau Marie - funeral hymn
Tangaroa Whakamautai whales his escorts
Tapu Te Pō - Oh Holy Night.....
Tangihia - young people's cultural request
Tarakihi - the cicada - on Kiri CD
Taumarumaru - only in my dreams
Tauranga Moana - taonga of Ngati Ranginui
Te Ariki Hei Au Koe Noho Ai - "Abide With Me"
Tangihia - young people's cultural request
Te Hokinga Mai - return of taonga
Te Kaianga Kupu - Home Sweet Home
Te Kiri Ngutu - Old Ngati Porou haka
Te Kirimi - the cream song
Te Manu Titi - mutton-birding on Stewart Is
Te Marama i te Po - love song
Te Matuku i Hea? - Where's the bittern?
Te Ngahuru's Lament - for his canoe
Te Ope Tuatahi - WWI anthem
Te Piriti - bridge between cultures
Te Tai o Kawhia - farewell to Edenic harbour home
Te Wai O Whanganui - unite to regain river rights
Te Whetū Mārama - Ratana symbol, ways to unity
Tenei Matou - concert party introduction
Terina - Te Rina
Terina Pōmare - twirling poi draws us together
Tiaho Mai Ra - a sister's love
Tika Tonu - integrity
Tihore Mai Te Rangi - Rain, rain, go away
Timatanga - rugby haka
Tipirere - WW1 march
Tipu Ra Nga Uri - advice to young women 
Tīrama Mai - Rongomaiwahine
Tīramarama Mai - Everyone can speak Te Reo
Tō Aroha he Karere - Matariki
Toi Tū Te Hoe ! - on the Aotea's steering oar
Toia Mai - haka pōwhiri
Toia Mai Te Waka Nei - Treaty of Waitangi
Toia Tainui Tapotu - Launching of voyaging waka 
Toia Toia Mai Ra - symbolic waka-hauling 
Tua Tua Koi Ranginui - for storms at sea
Tui Tuia - traditional calls for unity
Tukua Ahau - Sir Howard's love song
Turongo - Ngati Raukawa origins 
Turou Whakataha - psychotherapeutic chant
Tutira Mai Nga Iwi - Stand together!
Uhi Tai - army haka
Uhi Mai Koia - Ngati Porou and Arawa
Utaina Mai - concert entrance item
Waiata Poi - Mara Maori maiden proud
Wai-aroha - love's like being swept down a river
Wairua o te Puna - The spirit is bubbling up
Whakaaria Mai - hymn
Whakaipuipu - lament for Ngoi Ngoi
Whakataka te Hou - karakia to cope with storms
Whakatoria Mai - Once Were Warriors
Wharikihia - 2003 award winner

Songs in English (and Samoan and Korean)

Battle of the Waikato
Big Aroha - That's my tikanga!
Blue Smoke
Born of Greatness - He Kakano Ahau
Cheryl Moana Marie
E Tu, Stand Proud
Fa'ama'i - 1918 Samoan pandemic
French Letter - Mururoa nuclear tests
Ha-ere Mai ...everything is Ka Pai
Isa Lei
Fijian farewell song
Maori Battalion ...march to victory!
Matua Ned
My Old Man's an All Black
Now is the Hour
Oh Mum ...I love you, yes I do
Pania of the Reef
Pukeko in a Punga Tree
Rolling Wheels Across the Desert ...WW2
Rua Kenana Tuhoe prophet
Si'i Lili Viola Tongan song of courtship
Te Kooti
Ten Guitars
Tofa My Feleni Samoan anthem
Totara Tree
Under the Sun 1960s protest song
Waiata Poi Mara, Maori maiden proud
We'll have a Maori Hangi Tonight
Whanganui ...where the Aitch sounds fine
What A Dopey Gang Tuini's shearing gang
Yeon-Ga Korean version of Pokarekare Ana

Folk Stories

Kupe & Wheki  evil octopus chased to Aotearoa
Haunui & Wairaka East Coast version

Te Pataka Waiata

This is where I've gathered lyrics etc. for making proper webpages later, when more information comes to hand.
Rummage around and take whatever is useful.

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