Kāhu ki Rotorua: My sacred pillow that is Ngongotahā

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See below for English translation

Te Tuakiri o te iwi

Waiata Aroha

Kaitito: Matiu Chisnall

Te Tau I titoa: 2008

I whānau mai a Matiu Chisnall i Rotorua, i te tau 1986. Kō ōna mātua kō Stan raua kō Tiara Chisnall.

Nā rāua ia i whakatipu, i poipoi i ā ia i roto ite ao māori me te āo Kapahaka. I tupu ngātahi ia me ngā koeke i te pā ō Ohinemutu kua ngaro nei ki te pō.

E noho ana au i te roro o taku whare Ka tau taku titiro

Ki taku urunga tapu e

Karohirohi iho ko nga wai aio a Kahumatamomoe

Hoki ki o maunga

Kia purea koe e Tawhiri e

Tu marohi nei ko aku whare korero Iri noa ko ona kupu whakairo

Hai ahuru mo te iwi e

Ripo ana nga wai o Mokoia ki Te Ruapeka

He mauri mahaki to te kainga nei

Ko tenei te tuakiri o te iwi

Kua toro atu tana ringa tito ā waiata, ki te wharekura o te kaokaoroa o patetere 2009, Ngā Rangi Raukura 2011, Tūhoe ki Rangi Tawhiti 2012, Tūwhitia 2013-2014, Tūranga Ake 2018, otira kō Ngā Manu Pūtohe 2023.

A birds eye view of Te Ruāpeka, Ohinemutu.

English Translation

Te tuakiri o te iwi”

Waiata Aroha

Composer: Matiu Chisnall

Year composed: 2008.

Matiu Chisnall was born in 1986 in Rotorua who comes from the pā of Ohinemutu and was nurtured by his Parents Stan & Tiara Chisnall.

Not only did they both play a pivotal role in his upbringing but also helped nurture his love and passion for kapahaka and Te Ao Māori alongside many koeke who have long passed. Matiu has composed for various whānau groups and schools over the years, you will find items of this composer throughout the Bay of Plenty Region and across the Tasman waters to this day. His work is continuous to this day.

I sit beneath the eaves of Tunohopū Gazing out towards my sacred pillow that is Ngongotahā

Shimmering below are the waters of Te Rotorua nui a Kahumatamomoe.

Return to your mountains to be cleansed by the winds of Tawhiri.

Standing in awe are the ancestral meeting houses.

That still linger with the words of wisdom within their walls.

As a place of shelter for their descendants

Rippling from the isle of Mokoia are its waters to Te Ruāpeka

There is such peace in this homely village.

As this is our home our place of identity

The Composer expresses his underlying love for his Home of Ohinemutu and is sitting in a never-ending thought of Aroha for his people, given he resides across the Tasman, the composer is acknowledging that no matter where in the world we are today, Ohinemutu Pā will always be at the center of his heart.

“You can take the boy out of the pā, but you can’t take the pā out of the boy.”

Tunohopū.