The top 20
Mōteatea
- Takitimu escapes storm.
Waiata for pre-schoolers
Song writers
Singers
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.
Other Maori/Polynesian Song sites
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
![](images/john-2021.jpeg)
I'm almost 84 and covid has not caught me yet. But if this
website disappears after I eventually die, you can find
copies of it on the Web
Archive and on the National
Library website.
My 1980s-90s hobby was learning songs about my 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.
The first resource I had for words and translations was
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.
To find out about different versions of old Maori songs,
I used Google to search all the 19th century Maori
documents that are now on the internet, on NZETC, Papers
Past, etc
And recently I have bought all 4 volumes of Apirana
Ngata's Nga
Moteatea.
I still have most of these Maori
songbooks too. If you would like me to hunt
through them for you, e-mail
me.
You can find more about my work HERE.
John Archer
Ngati Tumatauenga
Ohakune
May 2024
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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
- Arohatia - help
teenagers to flourish NEW
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
- Ruapehu E -
pataka korereo & link to spirit world
- 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, Fijian, Tongan
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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