This online resource is to connect Kāi Tahu whānau with our tīpuna knowledge and practices relating to pregnancy, birthing, as well as the much needed support tools for whānau who have lost babies through miscarriage or still birth.

Hana O’Regan

Hana Merenea O’Regan

Dr Hana O’Regan (Kāi Tahu) has worked in the areas of language revitalisation, identity and cultural development, te reo Māori and education for over 25 years. Hana is Te Tumu Whakarae of CORE Education, and a member of the Waitangi Tribunal. She is also a published author and composer.

E Hine

Written by Hana Merenea O’Regan, presented by Ariana Tikao

Kupu:

E hine, e kimi ana i te huaki pōuri
Kia puta mai koe ki te whāriki tapu
I horahia rā e Kahukura, e Tūterakiwhanoa Whakaroko mai ki kā taki
o te whenua e nekeneke ana
Te roa hoki i matata kā haehaetaka
Ka karaka atu tō iwi ki a koe, e Hine Whakamaurutia te mamae o roto nei
Ka whānau mai ki te tatau pounamu
I waihakatia e ō tūpuna
Hei tūraka mōhou i te ao tū nei
Hei tūraka mōhou i te ao tū nei!

Translation:

Girl, seek the opening
That you may be born on to the sacred mat Laid down by Kahukura and Tūterakiwhanoa Listen to the calls
Of this trembling land
So long the wounds left gaping
Your people call to you, oh girl
To soothe the pain they feel
You are born on to the door of peace shaped by your ancestors
as your standing place in this world
as your standing place in this world!

Whakamārama / Explanation

I titoa tēnei waiata mō te pānuitaka tuatoru o te Pire o Te Rūnanganui o Ngāi Tahu i te Paremata i te tau 1998, arā mō te whakatauka o Te Kerēme o Kāi Tahu. I whakatinanahia te Kerēme anō nei he kōtiro e whānau mai ana ki te ao mārama.

This waiata was composed for the third reading of the Te Rūnanga o Ngai Tahu Bill in Parliament in 1998, for the settlement of the Ngāi Tahu Claim. The Claim is personified as a baby girl being born in to the world.

Download E Hine Kupu