Ariana Tikao
Ariana Tikao
Ariana Tikao (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Irakehu) is a musician, composer, poet, writer, and taoka puoro (Māori instruments) exponent. She specialises in the revival of waiata and kōrero tuku iho from Horomaka and Waitaha, helping to bring these taoka to new generations. In 2020 she became a New Zealand Arts Laureate.
Ahurewa
Written by Rua McCallum, presented by Ariana Tikao
Kupu:
Hā ū, hā pū
Hā, hū, kō pū
Ka hu, ku ra
Ka hau mai te hau
Tāwhiri mai te tapu
Maiohātia te haeata
Ka ahu mai te hua
O te hau uha
Ki te hā kui
Ka puta te aro hā
I te kahu i te kura
E puoro ana i te hau
I te aho tapu
I te ara iho
Ka hono i te wairua
Ki te ahurewa
Kahukura, kura huna, kura haupō
He tohutohu kahurangi
A te wā koha
Ka mau te aro ha
Ki rō te āhuru mōwai
Kia pū mau tonu te urutapu e
Hā ū, hā pū
Hā, hū, kō pū
Ka hu, ku ra
Ka hau mai te hau
Translation:
Breath, breast, breath, source
Breath, silent desire, womb
Cloak, precious
The breath blows on the wind (vital energy comes from the breath)
Weave the sacredness
Affectionately greet the dawn (beam of light)
Bring together the seed
Of the feminine vital energy (feminine breath)
To the mother
Love appears
In the foetus
The vital essence is resounding
In the sacred thread (the thread that connects us to the atua and our tipuna)
In the umbilical pathway
That joins our spirit
To the highest place (platform), place of ritual
Rainbow (holding the seven colours of the spectrum and the seven chakra), special knowledge, halo around the moon (a metaphor for the womb and reference to Hineteiwaiwa as goddess of childbirth)
A precious sign
Of the future (a gift of time)
The greatness of love was held
In the amniotic fluid that nurtures
May all things of our natural world be everlasting
Breath, breast, breath, source
Breath, silent desire, womb
Cloak, precious
The breath blows on the wind (vital energy comes from the breath)
© Rua McCallum 2022