A
welcome home to the survivors from the WW1 battles of
Gallipoli and France.
Of the 2200 Maori who had gone to war, 300 had died and 700
were wounded.
V1.
Powhiritia a nga morehu
Te iwi, tangihia
Te mamae e, me te pouri nui
Tenei ra kua mahea
Ch.
Hoki mai ra!
Hoki mai ra ki te kaianga
E tatari atu nei ki a koutou
Nga tau roa i ngaro atu ai.
E aroha e ngau kino nei i ahau
V2.
Nga whare pa tenei huakina
Te iwi kia koa
Kua hoki mai nga tamariki toa
Ki te ao ora
Welcome home the
survivors.
All of you who have been mourning
The inward grief, and great mourning
today is cleared away.
Welcome home!
Welcome back to the village
that has been waiting for you.
Long years you have been gone.
Sorrow has gnawed within me.
Open wide the doors of our homes
Everybody rejoice
The brave boys have returned
to the world oflife.
Compare
this 1918 song with that used at a kawe mate.
(From "Hui" by Anne Salmond, p 189)
Kia
rite!
Nga whare pa, tena huakina
Te iwi tangahia
Te
mamae nei, a te pouri nui
Tenei ra tama ma
Aue, hoki mai ra!
Hoki mai ra ki te kaianga
E tatari atu nei ki a koutou
Nga tau roa
i ngaro atu ai. Te aroha
E ngau kino nei i ahau
Get
ready!
Open
wide the meeting-houses
For those who mourn
The great pain we feel
Is for you our sons
Alas, come back
Return home We
have waited for you
Through the long years
you were away. Sorrow
aches within me
Also compare this 1918 song with the 1945 song Hoki
Mai e Tama Ma written to welcome home the Ngati
Porou boys who survived WW2.
Tomo
mai e tama mā
ki roto, ki roto
I ngā ringa e tuwhera atu nei,
Ki ngā mōrehu
o te Kiwi e,
Ki ngā Tama Toa o tēnei riri nui.
Chorus:
Hoki mai, hoki mai
ki te wā kāinga,
Kua tutuki te tāmanako,
Kei te kapakapa mai te
Haki, te Haki
O Ingarangi i runga o Tiamana
e.
Enter
boys
into, into
these arms outstretched.
To the survivors
of the Kiwi Army,
to the brave sons of this
great war
Come back, come back
to
your home district
Our wish has been fulfilled
as fluttering over
there
is the flag, the flag
of England over Germany