Wairangi, infatuatied confusion, is replaced by the more noble emotion of mokemoke, loneliness, in this Kare Rapata Leathem version.

In the 1960s Hawaiki Nui unifies the new urban Maori

In 1955, for every 100 Maori living on rural marae there were 33 living in towns. By 1975, for every 100 rural Maori, there were 300 in the towns.

By the mid 1960s, there was a generation of young Maori who had been born in the cities. Many did not know about their tribal roots. Many urban Maori found it difficult to cope without the support of their extended family. And being cut off from traditional ways of life meant that the children of migrants lacked a sense of tribal and Maori identity. Te Ara

Racial discrimination led to Maori clustering together, so that Porirua and Otara became Maori communities, but they were communities of Maori from different iwi, different waka, who had arrived together to make a new life in an alien place, just like the ancestors 700 years ago from Hawaiki Nui.

And so the unifying story of this pan-tribal migration from Eastern Poynesia became popular. Modified versions of songs like Hoia Hoia Ra, and Hoia Ra Te Waka Nei were sung to recall this event, in order to build unifying bonds among those who had lost their tribal ties.

And once again, Matangi was modified, into this 1960s farewell duet, as urban Maori wept for those whom they had left behind, and then set about making new marae. From the 1975 LP Haeremai Ki Au - Come with Me.

In 1999 Maori song expert Henare Te Ua helped opera singer Kiri Te Kanawa produce a CD of Maori songs that had been first sung to tourists in the parlour-piano era of 1910-1940. The songs were sung in a lush, easy-listening style which made the CD highly popular, although the occasional Maori critic has criticised "incorrect pronunciation" (The six syllables of A-o-te-a-ro-a are sung as Ow-tair-ra) and some opera purists were confused too.

But adjusting the pronunciation to fit the song's rhythm is common in Maori singing, and as a crossover recording, this Maori-country-opera CD was as successful as the Chieftains Irish-country-rock CD "Long Black Veil."

Kiri was exploring one half of her Irish/Maori roots with this Maori Songs CD. Maybe she will collaborate with the Chieftains next, to explore her Irish roots. Kiri: Irish Songs?

E rere ra, te matangi Ki runga Ao-tea-r'a Kei reira koe ko e hine I arohatia nei e. Mauria taku aroha Ki te Ao whanui Waiho au i muri nei Noho wairangi ai e.

Fly away on the wind, Away from New Zealand You are there, my darling, so loved by me left behind here. Carry my love away with you To the whole world leaving me here totally infatuated with you.

NEXT >>

1 - Wharetini Rangi and Ana Hato 2 - The 1930s and World War 2 3 - Post-war migration and Kiri 4 - Sources