Poutini

Kaitito / Composer – Hana O’Regan
Rohe – Poutini Ngāi Tahu / Kāi Tahu whānui

Whakamārama / Explanation

Ko taku waiata tuatahi tēnei i titoa i taku tau whakamutuka i te Kura Māori o Wikitoria, i te tau 1986. I toko ake rā te hiahia i taua wā ki te tito i tētahi waiata mō mātou ake o Kai Tahu kia kauraka au e mate anō ki te waiata i tētahi waiata nā iwi kē atu hai tautoko i ōku hākoro me ōku pōua. Nā tōku hākoro i tuku mai te pūrākau mō Poutini hai kaupapa mō te waiata.

This was my first ever composition that was written during my final year at Queen Victoria Māori Girl’s Boarding School in 1986. My desire at the time was to compose a song about Kāi Tahu ourselves so I would not have to sing the songs of another people when needing to support my uncles and elders. My father retold the story of Poutini to me as a topic for such a song.

Ka tikaka whakamahi mō te waiata nei / Notes on appropriate usage of this waiata

He pai tēnei waiata hei waiata kīnaki i kā kōrero ōkawa. He waiata e kōrero ana mō te whakapapa o te pounamu me tētahi o kā kōrero e pā ana ki tērā tino taoka o Kāi Tahu.

This waiata is appropriate for formal powhiri as waiata kinaki. This is a generic waiata that can be used in any place but of course refers to the whakapapa of the pounamu and one of the associated traditions.