Nō te rautau 1800 te panoni haeretanga o te titonga Māori. Kātahi ka rawekehia ngā waiata Pākehā hei kīnaki ki ngā waiata Māori. Ka kitea ngā huringa o te wā i ngā takahuringa o ngā titonga Māori i te rautau 1900. Ka rerekē ngā kaupapa e pā ana ki te iwi, te ao tōrangapū me ngā kaupapa o ia rā.
Ko ētahi titonga he pōhiri, he poroporoaki, he waiata maumahara, he waiata whakanui. Ko ētahi ka kōrero i te aroha me te pouri; ko ētahi ka titoa hei whakangahau i ngā haora o te pō. Ko ngā waiata hahani e pā ana ki te reo Māori me te tino rangatiratanga ka whakauruhia ki ngā haka me ngā waiata.
Ko ētahi waiata ka noho hei ngaringari mā ētahi iwi. Ko ēnei ngaringari ka whakatō i te wairua teitei mō te iwi. Ko tētahi o ngā momo waiata pēnei ko tō Ngāti Kahungunu ko ‘Rongomaiwahine’, i titoa e Tommy Taurima.
I te rautau 1900 ka raweketia ngā rangi o Ūropi me Amerika. I roto i te tuhinga a Angela Ballara rāua ko Ngātai Huata mō te kaitito o Ngāti Kahungunu mō Paraire Tomoana, ka kōrero rāua mō ngā mōteatea, arā, ‘he iti noa te piki me te heke o ngā rangi, karekau he reo reretahi, ā, he rerekē te taki o ngā mōteatea’. Ka mutu i roto i ngā titonga hōu ‘ka whakaurua ngā kupu kia rite tahi ki te rangi. Ko te nuinga o ngā rangi he rangi Pākehā’.1
Ki tā Te Rangi Hīroa ko tētahi mahi rawe ki a Apirana Ngata rāua ko Hōne Heke i roto i te pāremata, he whakamāori i ngā waiata rongonui o te wā. Ka whakamahia ngā kīwaha me ngā whakataukī Māori, ā, kāore i whai i ngā kupu Pākehā. Ko tētahi o ngā waiata rongonui ko te whakamāoritanga a Ngata i te waiata Amerikana o ‘Home sweet home’ i kīia ai ko ‘Te kāinga tupu’. Ko ētahi atu o ngā whakamāoritanga ka kitea i te puka o Souvenir of Maori Congress i whakaputaina e Ngata rāua ko Heke i te tau 1908.
I te tau 1940 ka puta te kōrero a te Kamupene Pāho o Amerika (NBC) i te Āporo Nui kia whakakorehia te kupu ‘piupiu’ i te pāhotanga o te waiata a Alfred Hill, a ‘Waiata poi’. Ahakoa ngā whakamārama atu ki a rātou he kākahu kē te piupiu, ka māharahara tonu ngā āpiha ki te kupu rā.
Nā Rīpeka Te Paiātehau o Ngāti Porou i tito te waiata whakahē i te ture waipiro a tōna iwi. Ko tētahi atu waiata ahurea i titoa e Kaiārahi Bella, te teina o Mākereti Papakura. He waiata whakawhaiāipo a ‘Pākete Whero’ i mahia hei poi, e kōrero ana mō te aroha i waenganui i tētahi tokorua.
I te whakamutunga o te tekau tau 1930 ka haku ake te kaitito me te kaitohu waiata Pākehā a Alfred Hill mō te whakamahi a ngā kaipuoro Māori i ngā puoro o Hawaii (pērā i te ukulele). Nā tōna kaingākau ki te puoro Māori ka hua ake i a ia te tokowhā Māori i te tau 1913 me ‘Waiata poi’, i kawea ai e ngā tira me ngā kapa Māori. I whakapae a Hill karekau he reo waiata whakapakaru tō te Māori, engari he mea ako e te Pākehā ki te Māori. Waihoki tana kī he waiata uma noa iho te wahine Māori, ā, he tino rerekē i tēnei i ngā kaiwaiata Māori o ēnei rā. Ko te koronga o Hill he whakatū i tētahi whakataetae mōteatea ā-motu hei whakapūmau i ngā waiata tūturu Māori.
I te toronga mai o te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao ka tāia e Āpirana Ngata te pukapuka e kīia ana ko Songs, haka and ruri for the use of the Maori Contingent, arā, he whakamāoritanga i ngā waiata rongonui o te wā. He ihu oneone a Ngata i te whakaritenga mai o ngā waiata hei kaupapa mahi moni mā ngā hōia Māori.
Ko te tuatahi o ngā hopu oro nui o ngā waiata Māori i mahia e Columbia Graphophone Company. 30 ngā waiata aroha, poroporoaki, pōhiri hoki i hopukina, ā, e hokona tonutia ana toru tekau i muri mai.
He tauira a Paraire Tomoana (pērā i a Ngata) nō Te Aute i tōna ohinga ai. I tautoko anō ia i ngā kaupapa mahi moni i āna titonga me ngā mahi a tōna kapa haka,Te Poi o Heretaunga. Ko ngā waiata rongonui rawa atu a Tomoana ko ‘Te ope tuatahi’, ko ‘Tahi nei taru kino’, ko ‘Hoea rā te waka nei’, ko ‘Hoki hoki tonu mai me te waiata i tino pīrangi nuitia, ko ‘Pōkarekare ana’. Tērā pea ko ‘E pari rā’ tōna titonga rongonui, otirā he koha kī ki a Maku-i-te-rangi, ko tana tama ko Whakatomo tērā i mate atu i te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao. I kapohia ake te rangi i te ‘Blue eyes waltz’. Nō muri mai ka kawea e te pēne o te Ope Taua Moana o Aotearoa hei waiata rangatū.
I te Mahuru i te tau 1917 ka puta te kōrero a Te Kopara mō ngā kaupapa mahi moni o Te Poi o Heretaunga ki te hōro matua o Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Nā Āpirana Ngata rātou i pōhiri kia taki haere atu. I kite te minenga rā i te waiata o ‘Hoea rā te waka nei’, ā, 550 pāuna te tapeke moni i hua mō te Pūtea Hōia Māori i roto i te toru pō. Nāwai rā ka tāreia anō te waiata ‘Hoea rā’ hei waiata aroha.
He maha ngā waiata mai i te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao i rongonui i te pāhotanga ki te irirangi o ngā waiata a Ana Hato rāua ko Deane Waretini i ngā tekau tau o 1930 me 1940.
He maha ngā kaitito waiata-ā-ringa tōmua. Ko Āpirana Ngata rāua ko Te Puea Hērangi ētahi. I te tau 1917 ka tito a Te Puea i a ‘E noho e Rata’ mō Kīngi Te Rata. E waiata tonutia ana tēnei waiata i ēnei rā mō te Kīngi Māori.
I tīmataria e Te Puea Hērangi a Te Pou o Mangatāwhiri hei mahi moni mō te whakatūnga o te marae o Tūrangawaewae ki Ngāruawāhia. E ai ki te kaimātai hītori ki a Michael King, ko tēnei te waiata Māori tuatahi kia whakamahi i te taonga puoro whai miro.
I ārahi hoki a Mākereti Papakura i ngā kapa haka ki Poihākena (1910) me Ingarangi (1911). Arā anō ngā kōrero o mua e whakamārama ana i te waiata-ā-ringa a te Māori. E ai ki te Ashburton Guardian i te tau 1900, i mahi waiata-ā-ringa te rōpū hei whakangahau i te marea.1
Mai i te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao ka kite nuitia te waiata-ā-ringa. Ko Ngata, ko Paraire Tomoana mā i te tito i ngā waiata, i muri mai ka rongonuitia i te ao katoa. Heoi nō te tekau tau 1930 rā anō ka taunga ngā kapa haka Māori ki te waiata-ā-ringa.
Ko te piano me te whira ngā taonga puoro rawe ki ngā kaitito o mua. Ka mutu ko te patio te taonga i whakamahia e Kīngi Tāhiwi (te kaiwhakaū o Ngāti Pōneke) o Ōtaki hei marutuna tito waiata. Ko ‘He pūru taitama’ te waiata rongonui i titoa e Tāhiwi.
I whakamahi a Tuini Ngāwai i te pepe, te ukulele, te tararī, te kōauau, te pūtohe, te piano, te taramu, te whira me ētahi atu taonga puoro. Mai i te pokapū o te rautau 1900 ki te tekau tau 2000 ko te rakuraku te tino taonga puoro.
Mai i te paunga o te rautau 1900 kua hahua ake ngā taonga puoro Māori ki te ao, pērā i te kōauau, te pūtōrino me te pūrerehua. Nā Hirini Melbourne o Ngāi Tūhoe me Ngāti Kahungunu rāua ko Richard Nuns i ārahi tēnei whakamāuitanga. I te tekau tau 2000 e rangona ana ēnei taonga ki ngā whakaari o te ao tawhito me te ao hou.
E ai ki te tohunga haka ki a Tīmoti Kāretu, ko te takiwā o te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao te tōnuitanga o ngā waiata-ā-ringa a te Māori. I tēnei wā ka hau te rongo o Tuini Ngāwai o Ngāti Porou. Ki tā Ngata, he tohunga a Ngāwai ki te whakairo kupu. Ko te katoa o āna waiata he whakatenatena i te iwi i te wā o te pakanga.
Neke atu i te 200 ngā titonga a Ngāwai pērā i a ‘Arohaina mai’ (i titoa i muri i tētahi o ngā karakia a te Rua Tekau Mā Waru) me ‘E te Hokowhitu-a-Tū’, he waiata tangi mō te toa o te Tohu Wikitōria a Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngārimu. I te tau 1939 ka whakatūria e Ngāwai te kapa haka o Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū ki Tokomaru. E tū tonu ana te rōpū i ēnei rā. I muri i te pakanga ka huri haere ia i ngā kura o Te Tai Rāwhiti hei ako i ana waiata ki te hunga tamariki. Ko te nuinga o ana rangi i kapohia i wāhi kē.
I ngā tekau tau 1950 me 1960 ka kawe tonu ngā pēne Māori i ngā waiata-ā-ringa ki te ao. Nā te kaiwaiata ko Johnny Cooper (te kaupoai Māori) i whakaputa i te waiata ‘Me he manu rere’, i hopukina tuatahitia ai ki Whakarewarewa i Rotorua i te tau 1936. Ko ‘Pōkarekare ana’, ko ‘Hoki mai’, ko ‘Pa mai’ ngā waiata rongonui i waiatatia e te Howard Morrison Quartet.
I te tau 1999 ka waiata a Hinewehi Māori i te ngaringari ā-motu i roto i te reo Māori i te kēmu o ngā Ō Pango me Ingarangi ki te Ipu o te Ao ki Twickenham. I tohea nuitia tēnei mahi āna, heoi i muri mai ka tūturu te noho o te ngaringari ā-motu i roto i te reo Pākehā me te reo Māori.
Nō te paunga o te tekau tau 1960 kua whakaawetia te puoro Māori e te pikinga o te ahurea Māori. Ko te tipunga tērā o ngā karapu me ngā kapa haka hei whakatairanga i te tuakiri Māori me ngā titonga hōu. Ko te ia o te wā kia waihotia ngā rangi Pākehā ki te taha. I whakahaere Te Mana Whanonga Kaipāho i te whakataetae titonga motuhake waiata-ā-ringa, poi hoki. Ka mutu he kaupapa nui ēnei i whakaurua ki te taiopenga Poronīhia i te tau 1972. Nō muri ka puea ake a Te Matatini hei whakatairanga i te haka, te poi me te waiata-ā-ringa.
He tūturu Māori tonu te āhua o ngā kaiwaiata me ngā kaitito pērā i a Prince Tui Teka, a Dalvanius Prime, a Moana Maniapoto, a Hirini Melbourne me Whirimako Black. Ko te reo Māori anō te kauwaka. I te tau 1982 ka waiata a Prince Tui Teka i te waiata rongonui o ‘E ipo’. I te tau 1984 ka whakaputa te Karapu Māori o Pātea i a ‘Poi e’. He whēnumitanga te waiata nō te ahurea Māori me te ahurea ‘hip hop’, ā, ka kaingākautia e te marea, Māori mai, Pākehā mai hoki.
Nā te irāmutu a Tuini Ngāwai, nā Ngoi Pēwhairangi i tito a ‘E ipo’ me ‘Poi e’. He kaiwhakaū i te reo Māori, he kaiako hoki a Pēwhairangi nāna anō i tito i te waiata-ā-ringa rongonui a ‘Whakarongo’ hei whakarewa i te reo Māori ki runga. Nō muri ka whakamanaia e Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori tēnei waiata hei waiata mō te tau 1995.
Nā te pāhotanga o te reo Māori ki ngā irirangi me ngā whakaata tae hoki ki ngā reanga hou, ka ora tonu ngā waiata Māori. Ko te rahi o ngā waiata ka pā ki te tuakiri noho tāone, me te whakarauoratanga o te reo me te ahurea Māori.
I tīmata ngā Tohu Waiata Māori i te tau 2008 hei whakanui i ngā kaitito Māori. Ko ngā wāhanga tuku tohu ko te kōpae reo Māori toa, ko te kōpae R&B toa, ko te kōpae toa mō ngā waiata pakō, ko te tāne toa, ko te wahine toa, ko te waiata Māori toa me te kaitito toa.
Mārama kehokeho te kite atu i te whakaawe o ngā waiata mangu o Amerika ki ngā reanga o nāianei, inā hoki te toro atu a te tini ki te ‘rap’, te R&B (hip hop rānei) me te reggae. Ko Upper Hutt Posse tētahi rōpū i whakaawetia e te puoro reggae, ka mutu he whakaihuwaka rātou mō ngā mahi ‘rap’ ki Aotearoa. Ko āna waiata pērā i a ‘E tū’ ka pā ki ngā mahi kaikiri, ahakoa he reo Pākehā te nuinga o te waiata. Ko Te reo mixes te kōpae tuawhā o te rōpū, he reo Māori te katoa. He tirohanga tēnei kōpae ki te ako a te rōpū i te reo Māori. Ko Aaria anō tētahi o ngā rōpū mohoa i whakaputa i te waiata makau o ‘Kei a wai te kupu’.
I momoho a Maisey Rika i tōna kōpae puoro a E hine, he kohinga o ngā waiata rongonui a te Māori. Ka whanake tonu ia ki te tito waiata i roto i te reo Māori pērā i a ‘Tangaroa whakamautai’. Kei roto i tāna kōpae puoro tuatoru a Whitiora, ā, i roto katoa i te reo Māori. Hoki atu hoki atu, koia tonu rā tētahi o ngā whetū maiangi ka whakamānawatia ki ngā Tohu Waiata Māori, me te wāhanga Māori o Ngā Tohu Puoro o Aotearoa.
Ko Ruia Aperahama anō tētahi kaiwaiata reo Māori, kaituhi waiata Māori hoki. Nāna i whakamāori ngā waiata a Bob Marley, ā, ka kīia tōna kōpae puoro ko Waiata of Bob Marley.
Hāunga anō ngā puoro hou e puta ana, e ora tonu ana ngā waiata tawhito i te tau 2000. Ko te take ko ngā whakapau kaha a Āpirana Ngata ki te whakaemi me te whakamārama i ngā mōteatea mai i te tekau tau 1920. Nō muri mai ka whakaotioti haere ōna piki a Pei Te Hurinui Jones rāua ko Hirini Moko Mead i ngā whāwhārua o te pukapuka (e whā ngā pukapuka) o Nga Moteatea. Ka mutu kei roto i te ruamahara o te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki-makaurau ngā tuemi 1,300 o ngā waiata me ngā haka i kohia e Mervyn McLean.
Armstrong, Alan, and Reupena Ngata. Māori action songs. Tāmakimakaurau: Reed, 2002.
Kāretu, Tīmoti. Haka: te tohu o te whenua rangatira: the dance of a noble people. Tāmakimakaurau: Reed, 1993.
Ngāwai, Tuini. Tuini: her life and her songs. Tokomaru Bay: Hokowhitu-a-Tu; Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa: Te Rau Press, 1985.