Karanga Aotearoa - Kia Mau

Kōhine Pōnika - Karanga Aotearoa
Karanga, karanga, karanga, karanga ra,
Karanga Aotearoa e,
Ki ngā iwi o te motu e
Haere mai rā, haere mai rā, haere mai rā,
Ki aku mahi e
Tukua rā ngā kupenga
Kia haere ana ki waho e
Tōia mai, tōia mai, kumea mai
A tāua mahi e
Ka huri au hi, ka titiro
Ka huri au hi, ka whakarongo
Ka huri au hi, ka tahuri
Ki te awhi mai
I aku aha, i aku mahi,
o aku tīpuna e
Ka haka tēnā, ka poi tēnā
He mahi a ringaringa a e
Te hiki taku mere,
i taku taiaha
Te mana taku ihi e,
Pupuritia!
Takahia, takahia
Kia whakarono ai ngā iwi.
Pupuritia, pupuritia, pupuritia
A taua mahi e.
Ka huri au, ka titiro
Ka huru au, ka whakarongo
Ka huru au, ka tahuri
Ki te awhi mai....
....Ki aku aha?
Ki aku mahi o aku tīpuna e
Ka haka tēnā, ka poi tēnā
He mahi a ringaringa a e
Te hiki taku mere, i taku taiaha
Te mana taku ihi e,
Takahia, takahia
Kia whakarono ai ngā iwi.
Pupuritia, pupuritia, pupuritia
A tāua mahi e.
Hi au-e hei!
Kohine Te Whakarua Ponika was born in Ruatoki, 28 June, 1920, one of the eight children of Hinerotu Numia, (Tuhoe) and The Rev Wharetini Rangi MBE (Ngati Porou). Her name commemorates that she was born in a corn field. (Roto had begun an Anglican mission at Ruatoki in 1907 and Wharerangi was ordained an Anglican Minister in 1927)
Music was her world, (her father being the composer of Matangi) and she sang and created tunes from an early age. But it was not only music that drew her attention. She preferred to sit with the old people rather than play, listening to their discussions for hours. Thus she became very learned in whakapapa and tikanga. She was even schooled in the discipline of taiaha and haka, a skill which laterled many students to her doorstep.
In 1938, Sir Apirana Ngata visited Ruatoki and was stunned by the beauty of their welcoming waiata. When he asked who the composer was, the people directed him to Kohine. Having recognised her extraordinary skill, he took her aside and asked her to write him a song based on the music of Schubert's Serenade. This became Nga Mahara.
As a young woman she met and married Koti Ponika, one of the last students of taiaha under the Tuhoe masters of that era. Standing more than 6ft tall, he towered over her tiny frame. She moved to Turangi with him where they raised their son Hati, and eight more adopted children.
Mrs Ponika was often surprised when her works, written and composed at her kitchen table, won national awards, and she was humbled when her songs were sung by others. Her preference to remain at home with her family lessened a public profile she did not hanker for. Her children became her sounding board, her orchestra, her choir on call. She would often have inspiration in the midnight hours and stir the household to waken and play the ukulele before the tune left her. Because she did not write music, she would teach the song to her children. By morning they knew it by heart, and by evening they were singing the new song to other adults.
Beneath the friendly, catchy tunes of her songs, there lay words which subtly called her people to action. Becoming captivated by her songs, they reclaimed their Maoritanga.
She died from illness in 1989 and is buried at Tauarau Marae with Koti her husband.