Ngahiwi Tomoana: Song speaks of hope and heroism from futility of war

Kaumātua Wi Rangi Whaitiri.

OPINION:
During World War I there was no internet, texts, fax or Facebook.

Our people communicated through the wairua of music and poetry. E Pari Rā, was composed at that time by Paraire Henare Tomoana for his relative Maku I te rangi Ellison, who lost her son Whakatomo during the first World War.

The words of the song "E pari rā ngā tai ki te ākau, e hotu rā ko taku manawa" – describes the tide and the waves beating on the cliffs of Anzac Cove, being echoed by the sobbing and throbbing hearts of mothers, wives and sisters at home in Aotearoa.

The outgoing tide from Gallipoli, crimson red with the blood of soldiers slaying in the surf, symbolised the love of the sun reaching out to the mothers in Aotearoa, while the incoming tide and the beating waves on the shore of Anzac Cove was the love of the mothers reaching back to their sons, and the tears nullifying the tragic deaths and horror of war.

The song speaks of hope and heroism from the futility of war. The beauty of poetry and verse is its bridging of thought from the battlefields of death and destruction to the dreams of a better world rising from the pits of despair and desperation.

It's a tribute to the strength and soft power that our women folk of that time demonstrated at home, taking over farming, forestry and other activities to feed families and communities, while all other resources were poured into the war effort.

Anzac to them was never about glorifying war but more about the overwhelming grief of never again seeing their sons, brothers, husbands and loved ones buried in a foreign land across the oceans of the world far from home.

That Anzac spirit we have shared with our Australian neighbours started in those tragic days at Gallipoli and since then has spurred some massive human endeavours collectively between us.

This year Meka Whaitiri will be leading the New Zealand contingent to Gallipoli where she will be speaking on behalf of all New Zealanders. Meka is the Minister for Veterans and her father, the late, Wi Rangi Whaitiri was in the Japan Force and the Korean Force.

Meka will be at the site where hundreds of New Zealanders died. E Pari Rā will be sung by New Zealand ambassadors during this Gallipoli Remembrance.

The late Moana Jackson's request that women speak on the paepae has been met with huge narratives and debate from all sides.

Meka is one of those women who will be able to stand on any paepae in Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Porou to speak. During her travels she will be the voice of New Zealanders, a voice for wahine, a voice for Māori, her hapū and iwi, in remembering those fallen soldiers and all the theatres of war that they've been involved in.

This Anzac day as with last, join us in singing E Pari Rā in our homes or publicly and let us remember those who paid the supreme sacrifice for our today.

Have a Happy Anzac Day, everybody.

E ngā hoa kua ngaro, ngā hōia, ngā tamatoa a Tūmatauenga,

Hīkoi atu rā ki ngā whetū wairua o te rangi,

Ka maumahara tonu mātau ki a koutou,

Kei warewaretia.

To the fallen soldiers, our warriors who continue to march on to the heavens to be shining stars,

May we always remember them, lest we forget.

Ngahiwi Tomoana is chairman, Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated