Ka rangona te tangi reka o te pūoro i ngā kāinga tāngata katoa, huri te ao. Kei ngā iwi katoa o te ao ōna ake pūoro. Kei ngā iwi o te ao ōna ake kaitito – kaitārai kupu kōrero, hei whakapuaki mahi, whakaaro, kare ā-roto hoki. I mua i te taenga mai o te Pākehā, ā, mohoa noa nei, kei waenga i te iwi Māori ngā kaitito maha, te tito mōteatea. Nāwai ā, ka kapo ake i ētahi tūāhua hou hei kīnakitanga atu ki ngā waiata tūturu.
Ko ētahi tohunga tito waiata o mua ko Mananui Te Heuheu Tūkino II rāua ko Puhiwahine o Ngāti Tūwharetoa, ko Mihikitekapua o Ngāi Tūhoe, ko Ēnoka Te Pakaru o Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, ko Rangi Topeora o Ngāti Toarangatira. Kei tēnā iwi, kei tēnā iwi ōna ake tohunga tito waiata.
Ko ētahi kaitito rongonui o te rautau 1900 ko Tā Āpirana Ngata rātou ko Fanny Rose Howie, ko Tuini Ngāwai, ko Ngoi Pēwhairangi nō Ngāti Porou katoa. Ko Hēnare Tōmoana o Ngāti Kahungunu me Kīngi Tāhiwi o Ngāti Raukawa ētahi atu.
Nāwai rā ka ara mai te reanga kaitito hou i a Hirini Melbourne o Ngāi Tūhoe, me ēra o te ao kapa haka i a Ngāpō Wehi o Te Whakatōhea, Tīmoti Kāretu o Ngāi Tūhoe me Ngāti Kahungunu, Tā Kīngi Īhaka o Te Aupōuri, me Kuini Moehau Reedy o Ngāti Porou. Ko ētahi kaitito i te tekau tau 2010 ko Ro Ruha o Te Whānau-a-Apanui me Ngāti Porou, ko Kingi Kiriona o Tainui me Wētini Mītai-Ngātai o Te Arawa.
He maha ngā titonga reo Māori hou o ēnei kaitito e whai pānga ana ki te hītori me ngā mahi i pā ki te iwi Māori.
He kaitito Māori a Kahurangi Gillian Karawe Whitehead i whakangungua ki ngā pūoro ōnamata o Ūropi. Whai muri i tana noho ki Ingarangi, ka noho ia ki Poihākena i te tau 1981, ā, i reira ka tīmata ki te whāwhā i ngā taonga puoro me te reo Māori. I te tekau tau 2010 koia tētahi o ngā kaitito matua mō ngā puoro o Aotearoa.
Ko te mōteatea te puoro ake a te Māori e mau tonu nei ki ngā kāinga Māori mō ngā rautau maha. Kāore e ārikarika ngā take me ngā kaupapa i titoa ai te mōteatea. He huhua ake ngā momo mōteatea, anei e whai ake nei ētahi:
Ko te kaitito Māori taketake he waihanga mōteatea. He tohunga raweke reo te kaitito taketake ka whakamahi i te reo pohewa hei whakawhiti i te kōrero me te whakaaro.
Nā runga i te āhua o ētahi mōteatea, ka tahuri te kaitito ki ngā mahi kaiwhakanekeneke, kaihaka rānei. Nō konei kua kōrero hoki te tinana a te kaitito – ki te whakakōrero i tōna riri, ki te whakatinana rānei i ngā whakamīreirei o te whare tapere.
He matatau anō te kaitito taketake ki ngā karakia. Ka mutu ka whai pānga te tito waiata ki te whakauru i ngā kupu motuhenga hei whakaora i te atua, i te wairua rānei ki te takahuri i tētahi āhuatanga.
He kaitito anō te hunga rangatira. Tē kitea te manukura kāore i tito waiata. Ahakoa he iti te kupu, he mea nui te tito waiata ki te whakawhiti atu i tētahi whakaaro ki ngā reanga.
Ko te kupu tonu te mea nui. Ehara noa iho te kupu i te kupu anake, engari ana ko te oranga tonu e tinana mai ana i roto i te kupu me ngā neke. Inā hoki ko te reo te waka e puta anō ai te ira atua ki te ao mārama. Ka kotahi te kaitito ki ngā wairua, ngā tīpuna me ngā atua. Koia tonu te reo ko te kaitito.
He huhua tonu ngā kaitito ka whakaari i ā rātou mahi mā roto tonu i ā rātou waiata.
Ko Mananui Te Heuheu te tama a Te Heuheu Herea, te ariki taungaroa o Ngāti Tūwharetoa ki Taupō. Nāna te waiata i tito mō tōna teina mō Pāpaka Te Naeroa, i mate ki te pakanga ki Ōtaki. Ko ‘Taku tirotiro noa’ tētahi mōteatea rongonui e whakapuaki ana i tōna aroha, i tōna whakaari i te āhua o tōna teina, me tōna whakahua i ētahi hara ōna.
Haere rā e Pā!
I ngā tai whakarewa kauri ki te uru.
Tūtanga pō noa e roto i ahau;
Kei te aha tō hara?
Kei ngā ara tahataha nunui a Tiki-māeroero
Kei te aha tō hara?
Kei ngā tūranga rau a te toa.
Kei ō hīanga i tukua iho ai,
Ka moe koe i te kino; te hoa ē ī !1
I whānau mai a Rangi Topeora ki Kāwhia i te tīmatanga o te rautau 1800. Ko te whāea ko Waitohi, he wahine rangatira nō Ngāti Toa me Ngāti Raukawa. Ko te matua ko Te Rā-ka-herea o Ngāti Toarangatira.
He wahine rongonui a Rangi Topeora. Nō tōna iriiritanga ki Ōtaki i te tau 1847 ka hoatu tōna ingoa iriiri, ko Kuini Wikitōria. Ko Topeora tētahi o ngā wāhine tokorima i haina i te Tiriti o Waitangi. Hei irāmutu ia mā Te Rauparaha o Ngāti Toa. He nui ana whaiāipo, ā, kei roto i āna waiata ētahi. I tētahi wā ka mate konehe atu ki tētahi rangatira o Waikato, ā, ka titoa mai e ia te waiata e whai ake nei mōna mō Riripō.
Rangi kōrerehu i marewa atu ai,
Tahuri mai hoki kōrua ko tō kanohi.
Wai hoki te mea ka riua ia rā ki tō wahine;
Taea te hōmai hei whakaara i taku moe.2
He tohunga tito waiata a Mihikitekapua nō Ngāti Ruapani me Ngāi Tūhoe. Ko ‘Taku rākau’ tōna waiata rongonui, i titoa mō tana tāne mō Hikawai. E whai ake nei ko tētahi anō o āna waiata e whakaari ana i tōna noho mōai.
Engari te tītī e tangi haere ana, e,
Whai tokorua rawa rāua;
Tēnā ko au nei, e manu e,
Kei te hua kiwi i mahue i te tawai3
Nāwai i te paunga o te rautau 1800 kua araara mai ngā kapa haka Māori ki ngā kāinga Māori. Ko Āpirana Ngata rāua ko Te Puea Hērangi ngā kaiārahi tuatahi o ēnei rōpū. Ko ēnei ngā kapa haka tuatahi. I horapa haere ēnei rōpū ki ngā kāinga Māori ki te waiata, ki te haka, ki te whakangahau me te whakatangi taonga puoro pērā i te violin, te piano, te kōriana me te banjo. He tauira anō ēnei rōpū nō ngā whare karioi, he rōpū haka ka haere ki te kāinga o ētahi ki te toro whanaunga. Ko te kaupapa o ngā haerenga a ngā kapa o muri nei he mahi moni mō ētahi kaupapa ā-hapori pērā i te whakaaranga o ngā marae i Te Tai Rāwhiti (i ārahina e Ngata) me te whakatūnga o Tūrangawaewae marae (i ārahina e Te Puea) hei pākaiahi mō te Kīngitanga.
I whānau mai a Paraire Tōmoana o Ngāti Te Whatuiāpiti me Ngāti Kahungunu i waenganui pū i te tekau tau 1870. Koia tētahi i para i te huarahi mō ngā waiata ā-ringa hou, ā, ka anga kē ngā rangi mai i ngā waiata koroua o mua ki ngā rangi Pākehā. I te wā o te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao ka tito ia i ngā waiata rongonui hei kaupapa mahi moni mā ngā hōia me ō rātou whānau. Ko ētahi o ngā waiata a Tomoana e rongonui tonu ana pērā i a Pōkarekare ana’, ‘Hoea rā te waka nei’ me ‘E pari rā’, he waiata mahara ki ngā hōia i mate ki te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao. I tauiratia tēnei waiata i a ‘Blue eyes waltz’; nāwai ka whakamahi te Taua Moana o Aotearoa i tēnei waiata mō tōna rangatū ōkawa.
I whānau mai a Tuini Ngāwai o Ngāti Porou i te tau 1910 ki Tokomaru. 14 noa iho tōna pakeke ka titoa mai he waiata (kua ngaro). Mai i te tau 1931, neke atu i te 200 ngā waiata ka titoa e ia. Ko tōna waiata rongonui tuatahi ko ‘He nawe kei roto’. Ka kauanuanu a Āpirana Ngata ki te waiata, ka tono ia ki a Tuini kia waiatatia tāna waiata ki te whakatuwheratanga o Te Hono ki Rarotonga ki Tokomaru i te tau 1934.
I te tau 1939 ka hikipapa ki Tāmaki-makaurau noho ai. I reira ka hanga waiata mō tētahi kapa waiata tira e pāho ana ki runga irirangi. Nō te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao ka hoki ia ki Tokomaru, whakatūria ana e ia tōna kapa a Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū. He whakatari hōia hoki mō te hokowhitu tētahi o ngā mahi. He maha ngā tūnga o te kapa ki ngā puni hōia, ki ngā pōwhiri rānei mā ngā hōia e hoki mai ana ki te wā kāinga. I te wā e mura ana te pakanga, ka puta i a Ngāwai ōna waiata rongonui rawa, pērā i a ‘Arohaina mai e te Kīngi nui’.
Ko te tamāhine (irāmutu) a Tuini Ngāwai ko Ngoingoi Pēwhairangi tētahi kaitito rongonui anō. He mema, he manukura ia nō Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū i tūmanakohia e tōna whāea hei kaiārahi, hei kaitito hoki. Ko ētahi o ngā waiata rongonui a Ngoi ko ‘Kia kaha ngā iwi’, ko ‘Ka noho au’, ko ‘Whakarongo’. Ko te nuinga o āna titonga i titoa mai mō ngā hui nui, pērā i te haerenga mai o te pirini me te pirinihi o Wēra (nāna hoki i whakahaere te pōwhiri). Ko ētahi o ana titonga rongonui ko ‘Poi e’, i waiatatia e Prince Tui Teka i te tau 1981, me ‘Poi e’, i tuhia i te taha o Dalvanius Prime, ā, (i waiatatia e te Karapu Māori o Pātea) i rongonui tēnei waiata ki te ao katoa. I whakapau kaha anō a Ngoi hei kaiako, hei kaiwhakatairanga i te reo me te ahurea Māori.
He tohunga tito whakairo kupu a Hirini Mebourne nō Ngāi Tūhoe i whakaputa i ngā waiata rongonui mai i te tau 1980 tae noa ki tōna matenga i te tau 2003. Rangona ai āna waiata ki ngā kura, ā, e rangona tonutia nei i ēnei rā. Ko ‘Purea nei’, ko ‘Whiti te marama’, ko ‘Tīhore mai’ ētahi o āna waiata e waiatatia ana puta noa i te motu.
Ko Hirini anō tērā rāua ko Richard Nunns i whakaora i te tangi o ngā taonga puoro. I te tau 1994 ka puta tā rāua kōpae puoro e kīa ana ko Te kū te whē, ā, he mahinga hautipua tēnei i whakaara anō ai te taonga puoro i roto i ngā titonga whānui o Aotearoa. I te tekau tau 2010, e rangona ana ngā taonga puoro ki te ao kiriata, ki ngā kēmu hākinakina, ki runga marae, puta noa i te ao.
Ngata, Āpirana Turupa. Ngā mōteatea: he maramara rere nō ngā waka maha. 4 vols. Tāmakimakaurau: Auckland University Press, 2004–7.
Ngāwai, Tuini. Tuini: her life and her songs. Tokomaru Bay: Hokowhitu-a-Tu; Kihipene: Te Rau Press, 1985.