Kōrero: Ngāpuhi

Te Waiata mō ‘Whina’

Te Waiata mō ‘Whina’

Nā Whina Cooper i whakahau te hīkoi rongonui o te tau 1975 mō ngā whenua kua riro. Ka tīmata te hīkoi i te rohe o Ngāpuhi ā, tatū noa ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Nā Hone Tūwhare te mōteatea nei i tito, e kōrero ana ia mō te wairua kaha o Whina me tōna tūranga teitei ki ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa. I pūmau a Whina ki te hāhi Katorika – whai anō ngā kōrero o te waiata mō Hato Kiritowha, te wairua ārahi i ngā tāngata haere.

Rain-maker’s song for Whina

I’ll not forget your joints creaking as you climbed into
the bus at Victoria Park to bless the journey.
When you broke down in the middle of the Lord’s Prayer,
I thought that what you left unsaid hung more tangibly
uncertain above us all than some intangible certainty
that we would all get a comfortable berth in the
hereafter.

Saint Christopher in the rain at night, just before Mangamuka
Gorge. People wearing Saint Christopher badges getting
off the bus and helping to put an overturned vehicle right
side up. No one hurt. I finger the cheap badge you gave me
of the saint. Will it be, alright ?

A couple of days later in bright sunshine, we hit the road
leaving Te Hapua behind. And all the way south – to the
head of the fish,’ I picked up some hard truths embedded in
your hilarious speeches on the maraes:

No more lollies !We been sucking the pakeha lolly
for one hundred and fifty years.

Look at what’s happened. Look at what we got left.

Only two million acres. Yes, that’s right. Two million

acres out of sixty six million acres.

Think of that. Good gracious, if we let them take what
is left we will all become taurekareka. Do we want
that ?

So you listen, now. This is a Sacred March. We are
marching because we want to hold on to what is left.

You must understand this. And you must think of your

Tupunas. They are marching beside you. Move over, and

make room. We are not going to Wellington for
nothing.
And don’t be mistaken: Kare tenei hikoi oku, he hikoi

noa – aha ranei – ki te miri-miri i nga paoro o Te Roringi.

E, kui ! What a way to bring the ‘House’ down. You could not
have lobbed a sweeter grenade. I’m all eared-in to you
baby . . . . Kia ora tonu koe.

Takenga: Hone Tuwhare, Making a fist of it. Dunedin: Jackstraw Press, 1978

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

New Zealand Herald

Permission of the New Zealand Herald must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Source: Hone Tuwhare, Making a fist of it. Dunedin: Jackstraw Press, 1978

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Te tuhi tohutoro mō tēnei whārangi:

Rāwiri Taonui, 'Ngāpuhi - Ngā pānga tōmua ki te Pākehā', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/photograph/407/te-waiata-mo-whina (accessed 28 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Rāwiri Taonui, i tāngia i te 8 Feb 2005, updated 1 Mar 2017